In December of 1943, StuG IV was introduced, it was essentially a slightly modified StuG III superstructure mounted on Panzer IV chassis. From December of 1943 to March of 1945, 1139 such "hybrids" were produced by Krupp-Gruson at Magdeburg. StuG IV (Sd.Kfz.167) was armed with 75mm StuK 40 L/48 gun mounted in cast "saukopf" mantlet. It was operated by 4 men crew. Majority was issued in companies to infantry divisions with few exceptions. Some source apply designation Sd.Kfz.163 to StuG IV.