Mercedes

Mercedes-Benz, headquartered in Stuttgart, is a German global automobile marque and a division of Daimler AG. The brand is known for luxury vehicles, buses, coaches, and trucks.

Mercedes-Benz is part of the “German Big 3”, along with Audi and BMW, which are the best-selling luxury automakers in the world. 

Benz & Cie. (founded 1883 by Karl Benz) produced the Benz Patent-Motorwagen (“patent motorcar”), in 1886. It is widely regarded as the world’s first production automobile – a vehicle designed to be propelled by an internal combustion engine.

Mercedes was a brand of DMG ( Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft – founded 1890 by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach). In 1900 after the death of his co-founder, Maybach developed a vehicle using an engine named after Mercedes Jellinek, the daughter of its designer – Emil Jellinek. The automobile design would later be called the Mercedes 35 hp. 

In 1926, DMG merged with Benz & Cie – becoming Daimler-Benz AG – agreeing that thereafter, all of the factories would use the brand name of Mercedes-Benz on their automobiles. Since Jellinek was a member of the board of directors by the time of the merger, the name was promoted for continued good luck to the new company. 

Throughout its long history, Mercedes-Benz has been involved in a range of motorsport activities, including sports car racing and rallying, and is currently active in Formula Three, DTM, V8 Supercars Australia and Formula One.

The Mercedes logo can be traced back to the 1870s when Gottlieg Daimler sent his wife a postcard, marking his residence with a “three-pointed star” and writing: “one day this star will shine over our triumphant factories”. In 1937, the familiar symbol was registered by Daimler-Benz, a “three-dimensional three-pointed star, contained in a circle.” 

Daimler’s ultra-luxury brand Maybach was under Mercedes-Benz cars division until 2013, when the production stopped due to poor sales volumes. It now exists under the Mercedes-Maybach name, with the models being ultra-luxury versions of Mercedes cars, such as the 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600. 

The Mercedes-Benz EQC, a fully-electric compact luxury SUV, was introduced in 2018 with production in 2019. It is the first member of the fully electric Mercedes EQ family, a range that will expand to include 10 new models by 2022.

In 2018, Mercedes-Benz was the biggest selling premium vehicle brand in the world, having sold 2.31 million passenger cars. 

Mercedes-Benz’s slogan is “the best or nothing”.