Private company

Maschinenbau Kiel

Logo: Maschinenbau Kiel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

German locomotive and engine manufacturer

Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH was a German company that designed, manufactured and marketed marine diesel engines, diesel locomotives and tracked vehicles under the MaK brand name. The three primary operating divisions of Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH were sold to different companies in the 1990s. Rheinmetall acquired the military vehicles division in 1990.² It is part of Rheinmetall AG.¹ It ceased to exist in 1997.¹ Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1948Founded¹

Industrylocomotive manufacturing¹
HeadquartersKiel¹
Legal formGesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung¹

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Corporate structure

Maschinenbau Kiel is part of a group headed by Rheinmetall AG. 87 entities, 24 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Rheinmetall AG Düsseldorf, Germany
- RWM Italia 100% · Ghedi, Italy
- KS Kolbenschmidt Czech Republic Trmice, Czechia
- Maschinenbau Kiel Kiel
- Rheinmetall Automotive Neckarsulm, Germany
  - KSPG Finance & Services Limited Subsidiary · St. Julians, Malta
- Rheinmetall Nordic Nøtterøy, Norway
- Astra Subsidiary · Piacenza
- Eurometaal Subsidiary · Zaandam
- Mauser Subsidiary · Isny im Allgäu
- Oerlikon Rheinmetall Air Defence Subsidiary · Zurich
- Rheinmetall Air Defence (Switzerland) Subsidiary · Zurich, Switzerland
- Rheinmetall Expal Munitions Subsidiary · Madrid, Spain
- Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Subsidiary · München, Germany
- 4iG Stake · 24.1% · Budapest, Hungary
  - Antenna Hungária Subsidiary
    - Digi Hungary Subsidiary · Budapest, Hungary
    - One Albania Subsidiary · Tirana
    - One Montenegro Subsidiary · Podgorica
    - Vodafone Hungary Subsidiary · Budapest, Hungary
  - Netfone Subsidiary · Budapest District XI, Hungary
  - Yettel Hungary Subsidiary · Törökbálint
  - 4iG Munkavallaloi Resztulajdonosi Program Szervezet (4iG Munkavállalói Résztulajdonosi Program Szervezet) Subsidiary · Budapest, Hungary
  - 4iG Tavkozlesi Holding Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag (4iG Távközlési Holding Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság) Subsidiary · Budapest, Hungary
  - ACE Network Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag (ACE Network Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság) Subsidiary · Budapest, Hungary
  - Axis Rendszerház Informatikai Fejleszto és Tanácsadó Korlátolt Felelosségu Társaság Subsidiary · Budapest, Hungary
  - CarpathiaSat Magyar Urtavkozlesi Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag Subsidiary · Budapest, Hungary
- Benntec Systemtechnik GmbH Subsidiary · Bremen, Germany
- BF ENGİNE PARTS MOTOR PARÇALARI DIŞ TİCARET VE PAZARLAMA SANAYİ VE TİCARET LİMİTED ŞİRKETİ Subsidiary · Pendik Istanbul, Turkey
- EMG EuroMarine Electronics GmbH Subsidiary · Neckarsulm, Germany
- KS CZ Motorservice s.r.o. Subsidiary · Chabařovice, Czechia
- KS Gleitlager der Mexico S. de R.L.de C.V. Subsidiary · Celaya, Mexico
- KS Gleitlager GmbH Subsidiary · St. Leon-Rot, Germany
- KS KOLBENSCHMIDT France Subsidiary · Basse Ham, France
- KS KOLBENSCHMIDT GmbH Subsidiary · Neckarsulm, Germany
- KS KOLBENSCHMIDT US, INC. Subsidiary · Marinette, Wisconsin, United States
- KS Large Bore Pistons, LLC Subsidiary · Marinette, Wisconsin, United States
- KSPG (China) Investment Co. Ltd. Subsidiary · Shanghai, China
- KSPG Automotive India Private Limited Subsidiary · Pune, India
- and 44 more

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

History

Origins

The companies origins can be traced back at least as far as 1918. With the Treaty of Versailles limiting arms production in Germany, the defence based industries in Kiel sought other markets. Kiel Deutsche Werke AG (DWK) was founded; producing diesel locomotives as well as shipbuilding and firearms manufacture. During the World War II Deutsche Werke AG produced U-boats, as well as locomotives for the Wehrmacht. The end of the second world war brought not only destruction of many of the facilities in Kiel, but also the end of the company.

1948–1997

The first production Marder was handed to the West German army on 7 May 1971. Production of the vehicle continued until 1975, with 2,136 vehicles being completed.

The company Maschinenbau Kiel was founded on 25 May 1948 as a limited liability company. It included several factories of the former Deutsche Werke AG. In 1954 after a lengthy legal dispute with MAN the name was changed from MAK to MaK.

In 1959 a crisis led to the company's purchase by Bremer Atlas GmbH and its conversion into a GmbH (a type of limited liability company).

In 1964 MaK became part of the Krupp group due to the take over of its parent company. By 1990 the production of the Leopard 2 had ended and the prospect of future orders was uncertain; the military equipment production division was organised into a new company MaK System GmbH. which was acquired by the cannon manufacturer Rheinmetall. The locomotive production arm of the company was sold in 1992 to Siemens.

In 1997 the marine engines part of the business was sold to Caterpillar Inc.

Further information

"Maschinenbau Kiel MaK". werkbahn.de (in German).

From Wikipedia’s article on Maschinenbau Kiel, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Products and brands

diesel locomotive

Listed on Wikidata.¹

Company divisions

Diesel engines

The marine diesel engines division became Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG in 1997 and is now a 100% subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. The engines still carry the MaK logo. One example of the success of this organisation is the use of four engines of the type MaK 9 M 43 C in the cruise ship AIDAdiva.

The MaK product line as of August 2015 consists of six medium-speed four-stroke diesel and dual fuel engine models. They range in power from 1,020 to 16,800 kW.

Current models apply flexible camshaft technology (FCT) to reduce or eliminate visible smoke at partial load. FCT is also said to improve performance and load pick-up.

Locomotives

In the 1950s and 1960s MaK built several designs of rod-coupled diesel locomotives with jackshaft and coupling rod drive. These were sold to numerous private companies to replace steam locomotives.

Read the full text

During the 1950s the plant produced locomotives for the Deutsche Bundesbahn, including the DB Class V 60, DB Class V 65, DB Class V 80

In 1965 native locomotive production began to use cardan shafts as part of the transmission system.

During the 1960s further locomotive models were produced for the Deutsche Bundesbahn including the Class V 90's, DB Class V 100, DB Class V 200 and DB Class V 160.

A third program of locomotive building began in 1979 - based on the standards (Arbeitskreis Standard-Diesellok) produced by the Federal Association of Railways (Bundesverbandes Deutscher Eisenbahnen) which required the use of standard interchangeable components. In the exterior design right angles and flat steel predominate - primarily for cost reasons, internally a switch to faster running engines was made, with engines from MTU being used. The G 1206 BB; a development of the G 1201 BB, with numerous intermediate models, proved notably successful being in production for decades, with a new shunting version introduced in 2007.

In the harsh economic climate of that time the company tried to expand its range - and its customer base. Using electrical components from the Swiss-German company BBC MaK started production of diesel-electric locomotives - some were successful, notably the EN 6400 of which 120 were bought by Nederlandse Spoorwegen.

In 1992 the name of the company was changed to Krupp Verkehrstechnik GmbH (with the corporation of some other companies in the Krupp group). 1994 brought a sale to Siemens and became part of Siemens rail technology (Siemens Schienenfahrzeugtechnik SFT).

On 1 October 1998 the factory in Kiel along with a branch plant in Moers was sold to Vossloh AG. Vossloh Rail Vehicle Engineering (Vossloh Schienenfahrzeugtechnik GmbH) or "VSFT" was the new name.

Under Vosslohs management the locomotives produced carried the traditional MaK logo. On 23 April 2004 the company was renamed "Vossloh Locomotives GmbH"

Products

Leopard tank, also produced by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann

MaK locomotives (category) and Vossloh locomotives (category)