Stewart & Stevenson and Steyr 4x4 Platform
Pinzgauer
Pinzgauer RU
Puch Truck ,
Haflinger ,
Haflinger 1958
The company, initially known as Josef und Franz Werndl and Company was founded in 1864 as a rifle manufacturer. It grew rapidly during the First World War, by the end of which it employed 14,000 people. The company began producing bicycles in 1894, and Steyr-Daimler-Puch Steyr automobiles after 1918. In September 1917 Steyr recruited Hans Ledwinka, now remembered as one of the great automobile engineers of the twentieth century, but then relatively unknown, to the position of "Chefkonstrukteur", to lead the creation of their automobile manufacturing business. The first Steyr car, the six cylinder Type II "12/40" appeared in 1920. It was heavy and well-built, if a little cumbersome; soon, however, it spawned sports versions with an impressive list of international achievements. The small but luxurious 1.5 L six Type XII of the late twenties won international motor press acclaim.
The company changed it name to Steyr Steyr-Werke AG in 1924. In 1934, Steyr merged with Austro-Daimler-Puch to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch. The range produced in these years mainly consisted of very modern designs, sporting partially or complete unit construction bodies in streamlined livery, from the one-litre Steyr 50 to the 2.3 L 220 "six".
During World War II, when Austria was part of the Third Reich, Steyr-Daimler-Puch's Generaldirektor Georg Meindl became one of the first German industrialists to suggest the use of slave labour from concentration camps to boost manpower at Steyr.
Most prominent, however, was its range of off-road cars, from the two-cylinder Haflinger and the 4 x 4 or 6 x 6 Pinzgauer, the Fiat Panda 4x4 (999cc) to the Mercedes-Puch G. SDP was the initial designer and manufacturer of these utility vehicles. The Haflinger was produced from 1959–1974, the Pinzgauer from 1971–2000, and the Puch G (also known as Mercedes G-Class) from 1979. In 1987, Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG began selling portions of its different production lines to form separate companies, which included Steyr Nutzfahrzeuge AG (SNF) (still based in Steyr) for truck manufacturing, Steyr Bus GmbH (in Vienna) for bus manufacturing, Steyr-Daimler-Puch Fahrzeugtechnik AG (SFT) and the EUROSTAR joint venture in Graz-Liebenau for assembly of automobiles and, in 1990, Steyr Tractor (Steyr Landmaschinentechnik AG). Other production lines were also spun off or sold outright to form independent companies, including Puch's motorcycle division going to Piaggio and Steyr Mannlicher producing weapons. In 1990, the diesel engine division was spun off into Steyr Motorentechnik GmbH, which in 2001 became an independent company, renaming itself Steyr Motors GmbH. Steyr Landmaschinentechnik AG (Steyr Tractor) was sold to Case Corporation in 1996 and renamed Case Steyr Landmaschinentechnik (and is part of CNH since 1999). Automobile production remained with Steyr-Daimler-Puch Fahrzeugtechnik (SFT) until Magna International acquired a majority holding, in 1998, and in 2001–2 SFT was absorbed fully by Magna, becoming Magna Steyr. In 1998, the production of military vehicles was sold to an Austrian investor company, which named it Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH (SSF). In 2003, SSF was sold to the U.S. company General Dynamics, a defence equipment manufacturer.
