In November 1943, Alkett, the manufacturer of the Sturmgeschütz III, suffered extensive damage from an Allied bombing raid. In October 1943, 255 StuG IIIs were still being produced, but by December production had fallen to just 24 vehicles. A conference held on December 6–7, 1943 considered possible solutions to this problem. Hitler welcomed the proposal to mount the StuG III superstructure on a Panzer IV chassis. The StuG IV was easier to manufacture than the Jagdpanzer IV, so nothing stood in the way of production. The StuG III Ausf. G superstructure was mounted on a Panzer IV chassis, with the addition of a casemate superstructure for the driver. From December 1943 to May 1945, Krupp converted 1,108 new StuG IV hulls and a further 31 from battle-damaged Panzer IV hulls.
