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Why was the Pz. I tank used in combat even though it had been designed as a training vehicle?

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Kuwait: U.S. 1st Armored Division M1A1 Abrams tanks — tank M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks of the U.S. 1st Armored Division moving across the desert in northern Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War, February 1991.

The Pz. I was originally intended to serve as a training vehicle for the new German panzer divisions until more powerful models, such as the Pz. II, III, and IV, could be put into service.1

Despite this initial design purpose, the Pz. I was deployed in combat because it was available in significant numbers during the early stages of the war. Its performance in the invasions of Poland (1939) and France (1940) was considered adequate for two primary reasons: the German army utilized the tanks in massed formations, and opposing forces made poor use of their own antitank weapons.1

By the time Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, however, the Pz. I's light armament and thin armor made it vulnerable to light artillery and heavier enemy tanks, rendering it obsolete for any role other than reconnaissance.1