Founded on March 26, 1934, Dōwa Automotive was a joint venture of the South Manchurian Railway Company, the government of Manchukuo, and 7 Japanese companies. Following World War I, the Imperial Japanese Army saw the need for increased mechanization, and the Kwantung Army began to import foreign-built vehicles, including the Model 25 Vickers Crossley Armored Car. After the formation of the Empire of Manchukuo, the Kwantung Army's economic policy of self-sufficiency in major strategic heavy industry spurred the need for locally-built trucks and automobiles. Dōwa began with the assistance of Tōkyō Jidōsha Kogyo (the forerunner of Isuzu) to build vehicles from knock-down kits, as the infrastructure of sub-suppliers was gradually increased to permit more and more local content. Initial production was estimated at 5000 vehicles per year, many of which were copies of the Crossley design.^{[citation needed]}

Dōwa Automotive was absorbed into the new Manchurian Automotive Production Company (満州自動車製造株式会社, Manshū Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki Kaisha), a state combine and subsidiary of the Manchurian Heavy Industries in 1940.