Rheinmetall Automotive ranks among the 100 biggest auto industry suppliers worldwide and is an important partner to the industry for such products as exhaust gas recirculation systems, secondary-air systems, coolant pumps, and pistons for car gasoline engines and as well as for the commercial vehicle sector.

Until February 1948, the plant, which was undergoing reconstruction, was confiscated for reparation purposes and up to April 1949 its assets were frozen.

Growth stagnated slightly during the recession of 1966/67 although with five plants and altogether 5,400 employees, Kolbenschmidt was in 1969 Europe's biggest aluminum caster and market leader among the manufacturers of pistons and bearings.

Bernhard Pierburg (1869 to 1942) founded on March 25, 1909, jointly with his brothers, Heinrich-Hermann and Wilhelm, at Wilmersdorf near Berlin the steel trading enterprise by the name of Gebr.

In 1926 Pierburg acquired the bankrupt Arthur Haendler & Cie., an enterprise that manufactured under license French Solex carburetors.

Deutsche Vergaser-Gesellschaft (DVG) was formed in 1935, a company that was to operate separately from the steel trading business.

In the postwar years, Pierburg succeeded in setting up a modern company at Neuss and in West Berlin that with the production of carburetors once again grew to a significant size.