After two years, he started to produce a motor car which he called the Wartburg, a licensed model of the French Decauville.

The company was the third to manufacture cars in Germany, the first being Benz & Cie and the second being Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft.

His son Gustav subsequently took over the factory, which at the end of the 19th century employed 1,300 workers and was one of the largest in Thuringia.

In 1903, the Ehrhardt family withdrew from management due to financial losses and also because the license to build Decauvilles was revoked.

The factory began building under the new name, Dixi, in 1904 with Willi Seck as chief engineer.

In 1942 BMW moved its motorcycle production to Eisenach, freeing up space in Munich for air craft engines.

[3] As long as the Soviets owned the company, BMW in Munich could not bring legal proceedings to protect its tradename.

The new, East German parts were of inferior quality, with off-center bolts, wiring with low copper content, while the factory suffered frequent sabotage by disgruntled workers.

[3] In 1952 the works were transferred to ownership by the East German government and renamed EMW or Eisenacher Motorenwerk (see below).

By that time BMW from Munich was able to secure its tradename, logo, and typical double-nostril grille appearance, and started to produce cars again.

In 1956, the first Wartburg (Type 311 and later the 312) was launched with a new design, but maintaining the DKW based two-stroke engine.

However, locals wanted to save manufacturing jobs, and in March 1990 Adam Opel AG concluded a collaboration agreement with the plant.