Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau

East German vehicle construction union

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Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau

Company type| Conglomerate
Industry| Manufacturing
Founded| 1948; 77 years ago (1948)
Defunct| 1991 (1991)

Area served

| East Germany
Products| Bicycles, motorcycles, light commercial vehicles, automobiles, tractors, vans and heavy trucks
IFA at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1986

Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau (lit. 'Industrial Association for Vehicle Construction'),[1] usually abbreviated as IFA, was a conglomerate and a union of companies for vehicle construction in the former East Germany.

IFA produced bicycles, motorcycles, light commercial vehicles, automobiles, tractors, vans and heavy trucks. All East German vehicle manufacturers were part of the IFA, including Barkas, EMW (which made Wartburg cars), IWL, MZ, Multicar, Robur, Sachsenring (which made Trabant cars) and Simson.

## Car production

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IFA cars were based on pre-war DKW designs and made in the former Horch factory in Zwickau. The F8 had a two-cylinder 684 cc (41.7 cu in) engine, and the F9 had a three-cylinder 804 cc (49.1 cu in) unit. The F8 bodies were straight copies of the pre-war models, and rapidly looked old-fashioned, but some had more modern coachwork by Baur of Stuttgart, then in West Germany. The three cylinder cars (F9) had not got into production before war broke out in 1939, and so had more up to date bodies similar to the West German DKWs. More than 26,000 F8's and 30,000 F9s were built. IWL produced W50 and L60 trucks and Robur light trucks and vans.

The IFA badge was dropped from cars in 1956, and the F8s became Zwickau P70s, and the F9 was rebodied to become the Wartburg and production transferred to Eisenach.

## Vehicle gallery

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### Two wheels

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* EMW R 35, 1951–55

* IWL Pitty, 1954–55

* IWL TR 150 Troll 1, 1962–1965

* MZ 125/3, 1959–1962

* MZ TS 150 "Luxus", 1973–1985

* MZ TS 250/1 "Luxus", 1976–1981

* MZ ETZ 250

* Simson Schwalbe

* Simson S51

### Cars

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* IFA F8

* IFA F9

* EMW 340 limousine

* P 240 Sachsenring cabriolet

* Trabant P50

* Trabant 601 S Universal

* Wartburg 312 Camping

* 1985 Wartburg 353 saloon

### Transporters, trucks and tractors

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* Framo

* Barkas B1000 flatbed truck

* Multicar M 25

* Robur LD 3000

* IFA H3

* IFA H3A

* G5

* IFA S4000

* IFA H6

* IFA H6 bus

* IFA W 50

* IFA L 60

* IFA Pionier RS

## References

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1. ^ Gavenda, Slavomír (19 April 2019). "What trucks gave the world the almost forgotten IFA - TIR Center trucks". tircentrum.cz. Retrieved 14 May 2025.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to IFA.

* UK-based official Wartburg, Trabant and IFA owners' club

* v
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Current|

* AT Cycles
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* Hase
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* Riese und Müller
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* YT Industries

Defunct|

* Adler
* Brennabor
* Express Werke
* Hoffmann
* Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau
* NSU
* Simson
* TWN
* Victoria
* Wanderer

Components|

* Continental
* Magura
* Rohloff
* Schlumpf Drive
* SON
* SRM
* Schwalbe
* Wippermann

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States

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