[1] In a move reminiscent of British Leyland in the 1970s, Adler launched two similarly sized cars in the same year, one of which followed the then new trend set by DKW for front-wheel drive, and one respecting the conventional rear-wheel drive configuration still used by the market leader, Opel.

[1] At launch the car was offered with a four cylinder 1,504 cc engine for which maximum power output of 32 PS (24 kW; 32 hp) at 3,500 rpm was claimed.

The Primus was competitively priced, and when its front wheel drive sibling, the Adler Trumpf, appeared a few months later, the conventionally engineered Primus was seen to be priced at 250 Marks less, for the 1.5 liter base model, than the equivalent front wheel drive Trumpf.

From 1933, in a move which marked a new model year and increased component harmonisation, the Primus acquired the front radiator grill which the front-wheel drive Trumpf had used from launch.

1933 was the year in which an optional 1,645 cc engine became available on the Primus and on the Trumpf, offering 38 PS (28 kW; 37 hp) of claimed maximum power at 3,800 rpm and a 95 km/h (59 mph) top speed.

Price lists of the time also refer to long wheel-base "Pullman-Limousine" version of the Adler Primus, but it is not clear whether any of these were actually produced.