With development taking longer than expected, the German military requested for something inexpensive to be built in small quantities to fill their need for additional small transport vehicles while the Europa Jeep project was still undergoing design research. The German military had been part of a cooperative effort, beginning in the late 1960s, to create what was dubbed the ' Europa Jeep', an amphibious four wheel drive vehicle that could replace the small all-terrain transport vehicles being used by several of the participating governments.

Īlthough the two vehicles were briefly offered simultaneously, Type 183 effectively replaced the Type 181. The Iltis was formerly built under licence in Canada by Bombardier Inc.

The Volkswagen Type 183, more commonly known as the Iltis ( German for polecat), is a military vehicle built by Volkswagen for use by the German military.