Mercedes Benz

Overview

Mercedes-Benz (sometimes shortened to just Mercedes or Benz) is a famous German brand of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks now owned by DaimlerChrysler AG (formerly known as Daimler-Benz). The Daimler-Benz AG company originated on June 28, 1926 when two companies, Benz & Cie. and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG), merged. Established in 1871, Benz & Cie. was the most important of several companies founded by Karl Benz. DMG was founded by Gottlieb Daimler and his partner Wilhelm Maybach in 1890, but Daimler died in 1900 and Maybach left DMG in 1907. Initially the two companies were rivals but in 1924, due to economic necessity after World War One, they entered into an "Agreement of Mutual Interest" (valid until the year 2000). However this initial agreement still allowed each company to manufacture and sell their products under their original brand names. It was only after the 1926 official merger, that the brand, Mercedes-Benz was created and used.

Mercedes-Benz is the brand name applied to the models of one of the premier automotive manufacturers in the world and because of its tie to Karl Benz, it is also the world's oldest. Its contemporary competition in automobile production is from Audi, BMW, Cadillac, and Lexus. In 1926 when the new company, Daimler-Benz was established through merger, a new logo also was created that would include a symbol for each and integrate the names of the two former companies. A three-pointed star had been designed by Gottlieb Daimler to show the ability of his motors for land, air, and sea use. This star first appeared on a DMG model in 1909, so it was chosen for the new logo. However the brand name Daimler was compromised after the death of Daimler in 1900, and allowed to be used on other automobiles, so the name of its seminal Mercedes model was chosen for the DMG portion of the logo. The traditional laurel symbol of Karl Benz was added along with his name to complete the new logo.

The logo with a plain ring, as seen today, was not used until 1937. Mercedes-Benz automobiles are among the most technologically advanced vehicles in the world, as they have pioneered—both in the past and present—countless technological and safety features (see details below) and until the late-1990s, were renowned for their flawless design and execution. It was in 1998-when Daimler-Benz and Chrysler agreed to combine their businesses—known as the "merger of equals"—that the DaimlerChrysler AG company was created.

Mercedes Benz Naming Convention

Starting with the 1994 models the traditional nomenclature of Mercedes-Benz vehicles was changed. Almost since the start of the company, it was the engine displacement that made up the first three numbers (1992 500E for example) and the last letter(s) that represented the type of engine and/or chassis; for example: "E" for fuel injection ("Einspritzung" in German), "D" for Diesel, "L" for long wheelbase etc. In 1994, this was altered so that the prefix reflect the model ("class", German "Klasse", in Mercedes-Benz terminology), the model number the displacement. The suffix was retained in some cases, for example "L" for long wheelbase, and "CDI" for Diesel (CDI = Common rail Direct Injection). Thus, the 500E in the example above became the E500 ("E-Klasse", 5 liters displacement). It is also interesting to note that while in the past the model number generally accurately reflected the actual engine displacement, this is currently not always the case - for example the E200 CDI and E220 CDI actually both have a 2.2 liter displacement, and the C240 actually has a 2.6 litre engine. Also, there is a huge difference in power (and price) between some cars with the same engine number, such as CLK55 and CL55.

Mercedes Benz Production

Besides its native Germany, Mercedes-Benz are also manufactured or assembled in:

    * South Africa
    * Thailand
    * Malaysia
    * United States of America

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