Bosch Automotive A product history

34 | Supplement 2 | Journal of Bosch History
Bottom left:
The Mercedes-Benz 260 D
was the first car in the
world to feature diesel
injection as standard
(1936).
Bottom right:
From 1960, Bosch
supplied the first
distributor injection
pumps. The Peugeot
404 Diesel was the
first car to feature
this pump (1964).
Bosch diesel injection systems, but also
diesel locomotives, ships, airships, and
even airplanes.
Bosch was initially unable to enter the
most lucrative product area of all – injection
systems for passenger cars. Injection
pumps were too large for this application,
while smaller engines with smaller pumps
would not have been powerful enough.
But Bosch was also working in this area,
and in 1927, unbeknown to the public, a
sedan with a Stoewer engine converted
to Bosch diesel technology clocked up
more than 40,000 kilometers.
It was not until 1936, however, that the
first manufacturers ventured onto the
market. Mercedes-Benz presented its
260 D car and Hanomag a 1.9-liter diesel
car engine, but it was 1938 before the
latter was first installed, in the Hanomag
Rekord. Before the second world war,
however, diesel-powered passenger cars
were not able to catch on. Car buyers
were less interested in economy and more
concerned with noise, vibration, and output
– and these were the areas in which
diesel cars still left much to be desired.
Milestones
1921 1922 1923 1927 1928 1930
Diesel injection
trials using Bosch
oilers
Official start of
development for
diesel injection
technology
First prototypes
of diesel injection
pumps
Series manufacture
of injection pumps
and nozzles for
commercial vehicles
1,000th diesel
injection pump
10,000th diesel
injection pump