MWM History

Future Needs Tradition.

MWM can look back on a tradition 150 years old, always guided by a mindset of innovation. The foundation of the “Mechanische Werkstätte” (Mechanical Workshop) by automobile pioneer Carl Benz in Mannheim in 1871 marked the dawn of the era of gas engines and the start of MWM. The enthusiasm and innovative drive of engineers from more than a dozen decades have continued to yield new developments and contributed to MWM becoming what it is today, one of the leading and most renowned brands in the field of gas engines and gensets. Today, some 1,400 employees work at the Mannheim plant and other MWM locations. MWM thus continued to improve the output rating, efficiency and reliability of its systems, distributed from Mannheim throughout the globe today.

150 Years of Engine Building in Mannheim

In 2021, MWM celebrated its 150^th anniversary. To review the major milestones in the company’s history, various projects and campaigns were conducted on site in Mannheim for active and former MWM employees, customers, and distributors as part of the anniversary marketing campaign.

Milestones in MWM History

The MWM brand looks back on a tradition of 150 years full of innovation.

• 1871
  Automobile inventor Carl Benz founds his “Mechanical Workshop” in Mannheim, thereby laying the basis for Benz&Cie., which later becomes MWM.
• 1879
  Successful continuous operation of the inventor’s first two-stroke gas engine.
• 1883
  Serial production of the two-stroke gas engines
• 1886
  The motorized car patented under DRP no. 37435 is built at the new site in Mannheim-Neckarstadt.
• 1910
  Production launch of two-stroke diesel engines for submarines
• 1911
  The new diesel procedure without compressor is patented under DRP no. 230517 and in 1919 under DRP no. 397142. The pioneer patents enable the construction of small, fast-running diesel engines.
• 1922
  Benz&Cie. sells the “Stationary Engines” division, which continues to operate under the new name “Motoren-Werke Mannheim A.-G.” (called Old Benz or MWM)
• 1926
  Knorr-Bremse in Berlin and Südbremse in Munich acquire the shares of MWM. 
Henceforth, MWM is a subsidiary of Südbremse, Munich.
• 1932
  Development of small diesel engines (KD15 E und KD15 Z) for industrial and agricultural applications.
• 1938
  First medium-speed diesel engine with turbo charging (TRH134S) and 1,400 hp at 600 rpm
• 1943-1945
  Up to 70 percent of the factories destroyed, production moved out to various locations
• 1946
  First new design of an RH engine (RH348) and production launch of small diesel engines for tractors
• 1953
  First production of small air-cooled diesel engines with patented MWM equal-pressure pre-chamber method
• 1954
  100,000 small diesel engines built since 1946 and supplied to numerous tractor and construction machinery manufacturers
• 1972
  MWM celebrates its 50th anniversary.
• 1979
  MWM celebrates “100 Years of Engine Building in Mannheim”.
• 1985
  Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG (KHD), Cologne, acquires the majority of the shares of MWM in Mannheim and Südbremse in Munich.
• 1989-1991
  MWM takes over the large engine production of Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG (KHD) (528/628 and 540/640 series) in Mannheim.
• 1992
  MWM receives an order for the design and production of prototypes of an electronically controlled 6,000-hp locomotive engine. This engine is the forerunner of the current TCG 2032 gas engines.
• 1999
  MWM is sold to Deutz AG for DM 34.3 million. The operational business for the engine division passes to Deutz AG, the production of small diesel engines is discontinued at MWM.
• 2005
  Deutz AG founds the independent subsidiary Deutz Power Systems.
• 2007-2008
  Sale to the financial investor 3i and re-branding to MWM GmbH
• 2011-2013
  MWM GmbH becomes part of Caterpillar Inc., MWM GmbH becomes Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH.
• 2018-2019
  Presentation of TCG 3016 and 3020 V20, which were designed from scratch
• 2021
  Presentation of the digital monitoring system MWM Remote Asset Monitoring (RAM) for location-independent and transparent monitoring of CHP plants in real time.
  MWM celebrates its 150th anniversary – 150 years of continuous innovation.
  Launch of the TCG 3020 V12 and the V16 as completion of the TCG 3020 series
• 2022
  Introduction of the SCR (selective catalytic reduction) catalyst retrofit kit as a compact turn-key solution for gas engines to reduce NO_X emissions and to meet the requirements of the 44^th BImSchV