Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a renowned German automobile manufacturer founded in 1926, known for producing a wide range of luxury vehicles, trucks, coaches, and buses. Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, the company operates globally, manufacturing products in 17 countries and selling them in over 180 countries, making it the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles worldwide. The brand has its roots in the groundbreaking inventions of Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, who were pioneers in the automotive industry. The iconic name "Mercedes" originated from a model named after Emil Jellinek's daughter and has since evolved into a symbol of quality and luxury.
Mercedes-Benz has a rich history of innovation, being the first manufacturer to introduce numerous safety features and advanced technology in vehicles, such as crumple zones and electronic stability programs. The company has also faced challenges, including declining sales and increased competition from both traditional and newer luxury car brands. Despite these hurdles, Mercedes-Benz continues to uphold its status as a prestigious automobile manufacturer with a focus on technological advancement, including a commitment to electric vehicles and reducing environmental impact. The brand's dedication to performance and luxury remains a hallmark in the automotive sector, appealing to consumers seeking high-quality engineering.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Mercedes-Benz
Company Information
- Date Founded: 1926
- Industry: Automotive
- Corporate Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany
- Type: Public
The German automobile company Mercedes-Benz has historically been associated with luxurious cars that offer both prestige and dependability. In addition to manufacturing cars, trucks, coaches, and buses in over twenty countries and selling cars in hundreds of countries, Daimler Truck AG, an entity owned by Mercedes-Benz, is the world's largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. It also manufactures the ZETROS, an off-road vehicle used by NATO countries. Mercedes-Benz vehicles are considered among the best vehicles on the road. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class was named MotorTrend's 2025 Car of the Year, reflecting the company's commitment to excellence.
Carl Benz (1844–1929) is considered the inventor of the first automobile, a motorized three-wheeler. Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) and his master engineer, Wilhelm Maybach (1846–1929), invented the "horseless carriage" by mounting a one-cylinder engine on a four-wheeled coach in 1885. Daimler founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in 1890 in order to produce internal combustion engines for vehicles.
After the death of Daimler in 1900, Emil Jellinek (1853–1918), a car dealer and an ardent fan of Daimler cars, demanded an advanced automobile to be named for his daughter Mercedes. Introduced in 1901, the Mercedes set new standards for speed and lightness in the emerging automobile industry. Initially rival companies, Daimler and Benz formed the partnership of Daimler-Benz AG in June 1926 and began jointly producing the Mercedes-Benz, as a primary product of that company. The formation of the new company led to the merging of the company logos into the Daimler three-pronged star surrounded by the Mercedes-Benz name and a wreath of laurel leaves.
History
In 1885, in Mannheim, Germany, Carl Benz invented the Motorwagen, a self-propelled three-wheeler with a rear-mounted single-cylinder engine. He patented his groundbreaking gasoline-powered automobile the next year. Without telling Benz, his wife, Bertha, took her sons and the vehicle on a 62-mile trip to Pforzheim. The car created a sensation wherever it went, and news of this vehicle soon spread throughout the world.
In 1885, in Cannstatt, Germany, Gottlieb Daimler had begun driving a wooden-spoked two-wheeler of his own invention through the streets of the town. Three years later, Daimler struck a license contract with piano maker William Steinway to begin producing Daimler automobiles in the United States. Daimler debuted its first Mercedes in 1901. By 1921, some models of the Mercedes were being made with supercharged engines.
In 1926, under financial pressure, the Daimler and Benz companies merged into Daimler-Benz and renamed the cornerstone product the Mercedes-Benz. In the late 1920s, Mercedes-Benz introduced the 170 sedan with independent suspension and hydraulic brakes that soon became standard. During the interwar years, Mercedes-Benz introduced the 260 D, or W 138, the first diesel-powered passenger vehicle, and the 170 V. World War II brought an end to automobile production but brought demand for military vehicles and trucks; to meet that demand, Daimler-Benz, like other German manufacturers, employed forced laborers taken from the fronts or concentration camps. The company has since been involved in reparations efforts.
By the 1950s, Mercedes-Benz had become Germany's top automobile manufacturer, debuting the 300 SL with its groundbreaking direct fuel-injection system. The Mercedes-Benz "fintail" midsize sedan, W 110, was introduced in the 1960s. It was also notable for being the first to come with an automatic transmission. The Red Sow (300 SEL) debuted in the early 1970s with a V-8 engine and was followed by a fleet of coupes. In 1982, the 190 compact made history as the company's first compact model. The well-known E class was introduced in the late 1980s. Models of the 1990s included various versions of the E class, the C class, and the S class.
While Mercedes-Benz vehicles had been in the United States since the early 1950s, it was not until 1965 that Max Hoffman, a devoted fan of the 300SL Gullwing, worked with Mercedes-Benz to establish Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA). The American branch of the company has grown to include hundreds of dealerships. A Mercedes-Benz facility in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, manufactures GLE sport utility vehicles (SUVs), GL-class luxury SUVs, and C-class vehicles.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, parent company Daimler-Benz embarked on a series of ill-fated acquisitions that hurt Mercedes. In 1998, amid significant controversy, Daimler-Benz acquired Chrysler Corporation for $36 billion and established Daimler-Chrysler under the leadership of CEO Dieter Zetsche, who ultimately turned the company around. Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler remained separate entities, however, and ultimately Daimler divested its majority stake in Chrysler in 2007. In what was considered a major mistake by many investors and analysts, Daimler also purchased a 37 percent interest in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in 2000. It would later sell off its Mitsubishi shares in 2005, in order to refocus efforts on Mercedes-Benz, amid concerns over quality and competition.
The popularity of Mercedes-Benz cars led to the development of a market for tuning or otherwise modifying the vehicles for even higher performance. One of the premier companies dedicated to this pursuit was AMG, established in 1967 to create high-performance sports cars. The two companies began collaborating in the 1990s, and in 2005, AMG was bought out entirely by Daimler under the Mercedes-Benz label. Mercedes-Benz AMG produces both passenger cars and race vehicles. Mercedes-Benz has at times participated in Formula One auto racing and has been highly successful in the sport in the 2020s.
Impact
Mercedes-Benz has its origins in some of the most influential inventions and designs that led directly to the rise of the automobile as a primary means of transportation. In addition to this formative influence, the company has long had a cultural impact as a status symbol associated with luxury and wealth as well as quality and performance. Even as other automobile manufacturers have proven highly competitive, for many consumers, German vehicles such as Mercedes-Benz cars maintain a connotation of high-quality engineering.
Nevertheless, in the early twenty-first century, Mercedes-Benz experienced problems with rapidly decreasing sales as questions were raised about vehicle reliability. The company also faced increasing competition not only from established rivals such as BMW but also from newer luxury brands such as Toyota Motor Corporation's Lexus. Zetsche, after turning around Daimler-Chrysler as a whole, was asked to turn his attention to Mercedes-Benz. Subsequently, the company announced that all problems had been addressed and debuted an improved S-class vehicle, along with two improved R-class models and an M-class SUV.
Mercedes-Benz vehicles have also had an impact through technological innovation. Decades before the global movement for automobile safety, Béla Barényi, a Mercedes-Benz engineer, designed such measures as inflexible floors and a collapsible steering system. In the late 1940s, the company added the conical-pen door lock, which prevented automobile doors from opening on impact. Soon after, Mercedes-Benz was the first to employ crumple technology and rigid passenger cells. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the brand introduced such measures as antilock brakes and airbags. Mercedes-Benz implemented the electronic stability program in 1995 to improve the ability of its vehicles to round corners and evade potential accidents. Two years later, it introduced the electronic key code for unlocking and starting vehicles. The company also introduced systems that warn drivers of upcoming stalled traffic and engage the brakes in order to prevent accidents, while implementing measures such as closing the sunroof and tightening seatbelts if a crash is unavoidable.
Along with safety features, Mercedes-Benz has used technology to improve the environmental impact of its vehicles, which has faced considerable criticism. The BlueTEC system was supposed to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel engines in certain Mercedes-Benz models. However, this system came under scrutiny in 2016 when a lawsuit was filed against the company for reportedly shutting off the BlueTEC system when temperatures dropped below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. In the 2020s, Mercedes-Benz advanced the electric vehicle (EV) market by introducing four electric car models to its line-up of vehicles. Mercedes-Benz has stated that, where market conditions allow, the company would like to be all-electric by 2030. Mercedes-Benz continued to advance it EV technology into the 2020s with new technologies that enhanced the efficiency and range of its electric vehicles, including a solar energy-capturing paint, a cell-level battery management system, and an electric motor-based braking system. Mercedes-Benz even designed an electric Popemobile.
Bibliography
Adler, Dennis. Daimler and Benz, the Complete History: The Birth and Evolution of the Mercedes-Benz. Harper, 2006.
Dietz, Michael. "Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks—A Complete Product Portfolio Making Use of New Technology." Military Technology, vol. 28, no. 6, 2014, pp. 114-17.
Gussi, Kielce. "Mercedes-Benz Gifts Pope Francis New Electric Popemobile." Vatican News, 4 Dec. 2024, www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-12/pope-francis-gets-new-electric-popemobile-from-mercedes.html. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
“Innovation at Mercedes-Benz.” Mercedes-Benz Group, group.mercedes-benz.com/innovation/en/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
Long, Brian. Mercedes-Benz "Fintail" Models. MCrowood, 2014.
“Mercedes-Benz Prepares to Go All-Electric.” Mercedes-Benz USA, 22 July 2021, media.mbusa.com/releases/release-ee5a810c1007117e79e1c871354679e4-mercedes-benz-prepares-to-go-all-electric. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
"Mercedes-Benz to Offer Electronic Option for Every Car by 2022." Reuters, 11 Sept. 2017, www.reuters.com/article/us-daimler-strategy-investors/mercedes-benz-to-offer-electric-option-for-every-car-by-2022-idUSKCN1BM0TL. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
Niemann, Harry. Wilhelm Maybach, the Father of Mercedes: For His 150th Anniversary. Motorbuch-Verlag, 1996.
Seabaugh, Christian. "The Mercedes-Benz E-Class Is the 2025 MotorTrend Car of the Year." MotorTrend, 20 Nov. 2024, www.motortrend.com/news/mercedes-benz-e-class-2025-car-of-the-year/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
Seiff, Ingo. Mercedes-Benz: Portrait of a Legend. Gallery, 1990.
Taylor, James. Mercedes-Benz-S Class 1972-2013. Crowood, 2014.