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 MaK product line as of August 2015 consists of six medium-speed four-stroke diesel and dual fuel engine models.

[6] Current models apply flexible camshaft technology (FCT) to reduce or eliminate visible smoke at partial load.

In the 1950s and 1960s MaK built several designs of rod-coupled diesel locomotives with jackshaft and coupling rod drive.

[10] 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.

[1] On 1 October 1998 the factory in Kiel along with a branch plant in Moers was sold to Vossloh AG.