Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau

Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau (Industrial Association for Vehicle Construction), usually abbreviated as IFA, was a conglomerate and a union of companies for vehicle construction in East Germany. IFA produced bicycles, motorcycles, light commercial vehicles, automobiles, vans and heavy trucks.

All East German vehicle manufacturers, like Trabant, Wartburg, Barkas, Robur, Multicar, Simson or MZ were part of the IFA.

Car production

IFA cars were based on the pre war designs of DKW and made in a factory in Zwickau. The F8 had a two cylinder 684cc engine and the F9 had a three cylinder 804cc unit. The F8 bodies were straight copies of the prewar models and rapidly looked old-fashioned but some had more modern coachwork by Baur of Stuttgart, then in West Germany. The 3 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. Over 26,000 F8's and 30,000 F9s were built. IFA also produced W50 trucks and Robur light trucks and vans.