Happy anniversary! MAN celebrates 60 years at its Munich plant

July 26, 2015

In 1955, the first truck rolled off the assembly line at MAN’s Munich plant. Sixty years on, MAN is marking the anniversary with a big family open day and vintage truck parade.

MAN is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the opening of its Munich plant by holding a big family open day for its employees and their families on Saturday 25 July 2015. Approximately 30,000 guests are expected to attend.

The anniversary is also being marked with a parade of historic trucks for truckers and vintage vehicle enthusiasts. From 8:00 on Saturday, the sound of vintage engines will fill the air as the parade of ten trucks makes its way from the MAN plant in Dachauer Straße, along Gabelsbergerstraße and the Altstadtring to the Isartorplatz, where the parade is due to arrive around 9:00.

The vintage vehicles are testament to the years of the economic miracle in Germany and the early days of long-haul transportation. The oldest truck, a MAN 620 L1 tipper, dates back to 1957 and boasts an 120 hp, 8.3 litre engine – impressive for the time. It will be joined by the 115 hp MAN 415 F, known as the ‘Pausbacke’ [chubby cheeks], from 1968, which is a nostalgic reminder of long-haul transportation from days gone by. Another impressive sight will be the cement silo semitrailer combination from 1960, featuring a MAN 750 towing vehicle and boasting 145 hp. And finally, the MAN 19.361 cab over engine with 360 hp and 12 litre engine will showcase the latest in low fuel consumption standards from 1985.

Opening of the MAN plant in Munich
Production of MAN trucks and buses dates back 100 years, but for the first few decades the vehicles were only produced in Nuremberg. In the first half of the 1950s, production and sales of the Nuremberg trucks continually increased until the plant reached capacity. The company management began looking for an alternative production site and ultimately decided on the site of the former BMW aircraft engine plant in Allach, Munich. MAN’s senior management, including Otto Meyer, saw the new plant in Munich as a fantastic opportunity to expand the company’s commercial vehicle production and set up improved and more independent development facilities for this area.

In the space of a few months, the production facilities for trucks, buses and tractors were relocated from Nuremberg to Munich. The first MAN tractor from Munich, a B18 A, was completed on 6 September 1955, followed by the first truck, a 515 L, which rolled off the production line on 15 November 1955. Just one year later, 3000 vehicles had been produced at the new plant.

For the last sixty years, the plant, which today covers around 1 million square metres, has been the headquarters of MAN Truck & Bus. The site employs around 8500 staff, who develop and produce heavy trucks as well as axles and cabs for other MAN plants. From 1955 to today, the Munich plant has produced more than a million trucks, 2.3 million axles and 1.5 million cabs.