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The War Years.

1939. Outbreak of war. At the outbreak of war, the order books are twice as full as the previous year. At 600 million Reichsmark, the value of orders exceeds the previous year's turnover by 50 %.

1940. Model 170 V. DBAG goes over to war production (at the end of March). Since the start of production, almost 100,000 units of the 170 V have been sold.

1942. Death of Kissel. Dr. Wilhelm Kissel, who died suddenly on July 18, is succeeded as Chairman of the company by Dr. Wilhelm Haspel, a manager at the Sindelfingen plant since 1927.

1943. Relocation of production. Production is moved out to medium-sized plants away from the large towns.

1944. Destruction of the Sindelfingen plant. Death of Bertha Benz (May 5). Two air-raids on September 10 and September 13 destroyed approximately 80 per cent of the buildings and 52.5 per cent of the plant and equipment in Sindelfingen.