With registered offices in Madrid, the Vitoria-based factory is dedicated to the manufacture of industrial vehicles (vans).
It was created as "Industrias del Motor, SA (IMOSA)" on November 17, 1950, with a capital of five million pesetas. Its first board of directors was composed of Arturo Echevarr a Uribe (president; of Bilbao), Javier Ybarra Berg (vice president; of Algorta), Julio Renter a Fern ndez de Velasco (general director; of Barcelona), Eduardo López Sanz (secretary; of Bilbao), Santiago Gri Rabert (managing director; of Vitoria) and as members the Germans Richard Bruhn, Carl Hahn and Ernst Krieger, the Bilbao Luis Ol barri Zubir a, Ceferino Ur in Leicegui and Agust n Beltr n de Heredia Madinaveitia (founding partner of "Motores y Vehculos, SA-MOVESA"), as well as F lix Huarte Go i (from Pamplona), P o Sarralde S ez de Heredia (from Villarreal de Lava), Miguel Guinea Elorza (from Madrid) and Francisco X. Almirall Castells (from Barcelona).
It was initially registered in Barcelona to take advantage of the license held by "Automóviles Eucort, SA", a company in suspension of payments that had been manufacturing copied "DKW" models from the German "Auto Uni n GmbH" since 1948. On November 9, 1951, IMOSA moved its registered office to Vitoria, and in December signed the first license agreement with Auto Uni n and increased its capital by 43,000,000 pesetas. With the collaboration of the Vitoria City Council and the Alava Provincial Council, it acquired 140,000 m2 of land Ali and Gobeo for the construction of its pavilions, which began in 1953. On March 20, 1954, the first vehicle, a DKW F 89L model, was assembled. The following year, complete production of the vans began. In collaboration with "Industrias de Mendoza, SA", on May 3, 1957, it established "Industrias Auxiliares del Automóvil, SA (INAUTO)", for the construction and assembly of special bodies for its models. Located in the Gamarra-Beto industrial estate, it had a share capital of 9,000,000 pesetas, which grew to 13,000,000 a year later. On January 8, 1959, "Comercio e Industria Alaveses del Automóvil, SA (CIADASA)" was created, with a capital of 35,000,000 pesetas (increasing by 60,000,000 in 1971), for the sale and distribution of its vehicles. The workshops of "Gri, SA", a company owned by Santiago Gri, also had a distribution license.
In 1963, it employed 1,841 workers. That year, it obtained the exclusive worldwide license from Auto Unión for the manufacture of the DKW F 1000 model (a 3-cylinder, 881cc engine with a 1-tonne payload). In 1964, it launched the DKW F 1000D, with Mercedes-Benz OM636 engines, manufactured under license by the Barcelona-based ENMASA, a company belonging to the INI (National Institute of Statistics and Census). The following year, it introduced the larger-capacity F 1500D, whose chassis was manufactured by "Sicca Española, SA", a subsidiary of IMOSA. In 1965, Auto Unión was taken over by Volkswagenwerk AG, which attempted to turn IMOSA into a major passenger car manufacturer with an annual production of 125,000 units. In 1966, the initiative was rejected by the Ministry of Industry. In 1967, IMOSA acquired Borgward-Iso Española, SA. Volkswagen contributed half the capital in IMOSA's expansion in 1968-69. In 1972, IMOSA and its subsidiaries (CIADASA, INAUTO, Sicca Española, and CIASA) were merged with Compania Hispano-Alemana de Productos Mercedes-Benz. CISPALSA - created in 1969 and controlled by Daimler-Benz -, giving rise to Compania Hispano-Alemana de Productos Mercedes-Benz y Volkswagen, SA. MEVOSA. Its share capital grew to 972,000,000 pesetas (Mercedes-Benz 27.5%; Volkswagen 27.5%; INI 24%; Banco de Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, Grupo Echeverr a, and other private shareholders, the remainder).
The vans continued to be manufactured at the Vitoria factory, and the company's headquarters were established in Madrid. In 1975, the Mercedes-Benz model No. 1000 replaced the DKW. In 1976, the INI and Daimler-Benz jointly acquired Volkswagen shares. Model No. 1300 was incorporated into production. In March 1977, share capital rose to 1,620,000,000 pesetas, and in 1979, to 2,524,500,000. In 1980, Daimler-Benz acquired 52.13% of the share capital, thus taking control of the company. The following year, MEVOSA was renamed "Mercedes-Benz España, SA", with a capital of 4,176,900,000 pesetas (Daimler-Benz 53.85%, INI 40.38% and 5.77% others). CIADASA became "Comercial Mercedes-Benz, SA", ceasing to represent the "Volkswagen Group" brands. In 1983, the Saudi group "Overseas Lending Corporation" joined the company. The new capital of 8,019,000,000 pesetas was distributed as follows: Daimler-Benz 56%; INI 25.44%, Overseas 15.91% and 2.65% others.
Bodywork and vehicle assembly were concentrated in Vitoria, with mechanization moving to Barcelona. In 1987, the MB 100D model was launched. In 1989, Daimler-Benz acquired 87.55% of the capital, and the INI (National Institute of Statistics) was withdrawn. In 1995, production of the Vito model began in Vitoria, and a year later, production of the brand's first minivan, the V-Class, began.