Henschel & Son of Kassel. A more conventional car, the 3/16PS, and the first diesel engined tractors, came in 1928, taking the company back into profit. Hanomag were badly hurt by the drop in trade in 1929 and built a large stock of unsold vehicles. Things improved in 1930 and the company got 14 per cent of the domestic car market, second place behind Opel, but in 1931 a new crisis came when the banks called in a loan. The factory was mortgaged to Hannover City and the Vereinigte Stahlwerke trust and the company relaunched as Hanomag Automobil und Schlepperbau GmbH. For 1932, a new small car, the 1.1 Litre, renamed the Garant in 1934, was announced and sold well, allowing two-shift working to be introduced and it was joined by the larger 1.5 litre Rekord (a name later used by Opel) in 1933, with independent front suspension. A diesel Rekord was shown at the 1936 Berlin Motor Show. The Hanomag 1.3 litre was introduced in 1939 and had unitary body, an innovative feature for that time. It was studied by Volvo engineers and influenced the construction of the Volvo PV 444 passenger car. Military vehicles During World War II, the car plant made military vehicle engines, a military version of their heavy tractor renamed the SS-100, and half track troop carriers. The Hanomag 20 B, a four-wheel-drive Small Unit-Personnel Carrier was produced from 1937 until 1940 (circa 2000 built) under the parentage of Stoewer (as the R180, R200 and Type 40). Capacity problems by Stoewer resulted in co-production by both BMW (as the 325) and Hanomag. Together, the three manufacturers made about 10,000 units. The special four-wheel-steering system was fitted on most models. Operating a "lock-level" between the front seats, made the steerable rear axle turn sideways to a certain angle. The single most important and iconic military vehicle to be designed and built by Hanomag during World War II was the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track (commonly called simply "the Hanomag" but this has been questioned, and may have been only a postwar label. German officers referred to them as SPW 'Schützenpanzerwagen, or armored infantry vehicle' in their daily orders and memoirs.) with a total production numbering just over 15,000. Built to protect and transport the Panzergrenadier mechanized infantry forces, it was by far the most common German armoured troop-carrying vehicle of World War II, and a direct precursor to