Why Did the Pioneer Fall Behind? Motorisation in Germany Between the Wars

As Dr Nübel has pointed out in Chapter 2, Germany’s able engineers adapted the gas engine for transport purposes; but Germany failed to drive home its initial advantage. In the present chapter we shall examine the evidence of the interwar period1 to find reasons for this backwardness and, in doing so, we shall compare the level of motorisation in Germany with that in the three other leading industrial countries of Europe: Great Britain, France and Italy.2 It is important to note at the outset that the United States, where the social depth of demand was so much deeper than anywhere in Europe, had already forged far ahead. That vast continental country was already in a completely different league. In 1928, for instance, when 20.24 million cars and 2.9 million trucks were registered in the United States, there were still only 351 000 cars and 108 000 trucks in Germany.3 Ten years later, in 1938, although Germany was catching up a little, the United States’ lead was still enormous: 25.5 million cars and 4.24 million trucks to 1.33 million cars and 383 000 trucks in Germany and Austria combined.4 To compare like with like, therefore, Germany should be compared with its European rivals, not with the United States.