1926–1998: Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group origin is in an
Agreement of Mutual Interest signed on 1 May 1924 between
Benz & Cie. (founded in 1883 by
Carl Benz) and
Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (founded in 1890 by
Gottlieb Daimler and
Wilhelm Maybach). Both companies continued to manufacture their separate automobile and internal combustion engine
marques until 28 June 1926, when Benz & Cie. and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft formally merged – becoming Daimler-Benz AG (
Aktiengesellschaft) – and agreed that thereafter, all of the factories would use the brand name of "
Mercedes-Benz" on their automobiles. The inclusion of the name Mercedes in the new brand name honored the most important model series of DMG automobiles, the
Mercedes series, which were designed and built by
Wilhelm Maybach. They derived their name from a 1900 engine named after the
daughter of
Emil Jellinek. Jellinek became one of DMG's directors in 1900, ordered a small number of
motor racing cars built to his specifications by Maybach, stipulated that the engine must be named
Daimler-Mercedes, and made the new automobile famous through motorsports. That race car later became known as the
Mercedes 35 hp. The first of the series of production models bearing the name Mercedes had been produced by DMG in 1902. Jellinek left the DMG board of directors in 1909. The name of Daimler as a marque of automobiles had been given by
Gottlieb Daimler for use by other companies. It is or was used principally by
Daimler Motor Company and
Austro-Daimler later
Steyr-Daimler-Puch but also, very briefly by
Daimler Manufacturing Company and
Panhard-Daimler, and others. The new company, Daimler-Benz, did not obtain consent to include Daimler in its brand name and used the name Mercedes to represent the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft interest.
Karl Benz remained as a member of the board of directors of Daimler-Benz AG until his death in 1929. Although Daimler-Benz is best known for its
Mercedes-Benz automobile brand, during
World War II, it also created a notable series of engines for German
aircraft,
tanks, and
submarines. Its cars became the first choice of many Nazi, Fascist Italian, and Japanese officials including
Hermann Göring,
Adolf Hitler,
Benito Mussolini,
Francisco Franco and
Hirohito, who most notably used the
Mercedes-Benz 770 luxury car. Daimler also produced parts for German arms, most notably barrels for
Mauser Kar98k rifles. Prior to World War II, Mercedes Benz gave Adolf Hitler dealer discounts. Once WW II began, Mercedes Benz production lines were almost entirely dedicated to manufacturing for the Nazi Regime. During
World War II, Daimler-Benz had over 60,000 concentration camp prisoners and other forced laborers to build machinery. After the war, Daimler admitted to its links and coordination with the
Nazi government. In 1966, Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH merged with Mercedes-Benz Motorenbau Friedrichshafen GmbH to form Maybach Mercedes-Benz Motorenbau GmbH, under partial ownership by Daimler-Benz. The company is renamed Motoren und Turbinen-Union Friedrichshafen GmbH (MTU Friedrichshafen) in 1969. In 1989, Daimler-Benz InterServices AG (Debis) was created to handle data processing, financial and insurance services, and real estate management for the Daimler group. In 1995,
MTU Friedrichshafen became a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler-Benz.
1998–2007: DaimlerChrysler In a so-called "merger of equals," or "marriage made in heaven," according to its then CEO and architect
Jürgen E. Schrempp, Daimler-Benz, and United States–based automobile manufacturer
Chrysler Corporation, the smallest of the main three American automakers, merged in 1998 in an exchange of shares and formed DaimlerChrysler AG. Valued at 38 billion, it was the world's largest ever cross-border deal. The terms of the merger allowed Daimler-Benz's non-automotive businesses such as Daimler-Benz InterServices AG, "debis AG" for short, to continue to pursue their respective strategies of expansion.
debis AG reported revenues of $8.6 bn (
DM 15.5 bn) in 1997. The transaction claimed the job of its architect, Chairman Jürgen E. Schrempp, who resigned at the end of 2005 in response to the fall of the company's share price following the transaction. As late as 2002, DaimlerChrysler appeared to run two independent product lines. Later that year, the company launched products that did integrate elements from both sides of the company, including the
Chrysler Crossfire, which was based on the Mercedes SLK platform and utilized Mercedes's 3.2 L V6, and the
Dodge Sprinter/
Freightliner Sprinter, a re-badged
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. In 2000, DaimlerChrysler acquired the
Detroit Diesel Corporation and placed its on-highway division under Daimler Trucks North America. The off-highway division was placed under MTU Friedrichshafen to form MTU America. Detroit Diesel branding has been maintained by DTNA and MTU America. In 2005, MTU-Friedrichshafen was sold to the Swedish investment firm EQT Partners. Also in 2000, DaimlerChrysler
entered into an alliance with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in an effort to reach the Asian market. The alliance resulted in the platform sharing between the
2002-2013 Colt and
first-generation Smart Forfour, but the declining performance of Mitsubishi led DaimlerChrysler to sell its shares back by 2004. In 2006, Chrysler reported losses of US$1.5 billion. It then announced plans to lay off 13,000 employees in mid-February 2007, close a major assembly plant and reduce production at other plants in order to restore profitability by 2008. That same year, Chrysler was overtaken by
Toyota in the US market, leaving it outside of the traditional "
Big Three" of US automakers for the first time. DaimlerChrysler had reportedly approached other carmakers and investment groups to sell Chrysler in early 2007. General Motors was reported to be a suitor, but Daimler agreed to sell the Chrysler unit to
Cerberus Capital Management in May 2007 for US$6 billion and completed the sale on 3 August 2007. The original agreement stated that Cerberus would take an 80.1 percent stake in the new company, Chrysler Holding LLC. DaimlerChrysler changed its name to Daimler AG and retained the remaining 19.9% stake in the separated Chrysler LLC. The terms saw Daimler pay Cerberus US$650 million to take Chrysler and associated liabilities off its hands. Of the US$7.4 billion purchase price,
Cerberus Capital Management was to invest US$5 billion in Chrysler Holdings and US$1.05 billion in Chrysler's financial unit. The de-merged Daimler AG received US$1.35 billion directly from Cerberus but directly invested US$2 billion in Chrysler itself. Chrysler filed bankruptcy in 2009.
DC Aviation rose in 2007 from the previous
DaimlerChrysler Aviation, an auxiliary of DaimlerChrysler AG, which was established in 1998.
2007–2022: Daimler AG In May 2010, the
Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co., Ltd., trading as "
Denza" was established between
BYD and Daimler to produce luxury electric vehicles. In November 2014, Daimler announced it would acquire 25 percent of Italian motorcycle producer
MV Agusta for an undisclosed fee. MV Holding acquired the 25 percent of MV Agusta back from Daimler in December 2017. On 3 August 2015,
Nokia announced that it had reached a deal to sell its
Here digital maps division to a consortium of three German automakers—
BMW, Daimler AG, and
Volkswagen Group, for €2.8 billion. This was seen as an indication that the automakers were interested in automated cars. In 2017, Daimler announced a series of acquisitions and partnerships with car startups focused on car sharing, in a move towards what it sees as the next generation of car ownership and usage. Part of its corporate strategy is to "transition from being an automobile manufacturer to a mobility services provider". In September, it was announced that Daimler had led a fundraising round for car-sharing start up
Turo, which is a platform that lets owners rent their vehicles out to other users. It also acquired Flinc, a German startup that has built an app for peer-to-peer-style carpooling, has invested in Storedot,
Careem,
Blacklane, and
FlixBus. It has also acquired
car2go and mytaxi (now
Free Now). In July 2019,
BAIC Group purchased a 5% stake in Daimler, which is a reciprocal shareholder in
BAIC's Hong Kong listed subsidiary. In September 2019, Daimler announced that it would be "stopping its
internal combustion engine development initiatives as part of its efforts to embrace
electric vehicles." In February 2020, Daimler partnered with
Twelve to create the world's first
C-pillar made with
polycarbonate from CO2
electrolysis in an effort towards a fully
carbon neutral fleet. In September 2020, the company was fined 875 million dollars by the United States for having violated the
Clean Air Act. It agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle all related court actions. In February 2021, Daimler said it planned to rename itself adopting the name of its flagship marque, Mercedes-Benz, and spun off its heavy commercial vehicles unit,
Daimler Truck, into a separate
listed company. Daimler Truck is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and its first trading day was on 10 December 2021. In the 2021 review of
WIPO's annual
World Intellectual Property Indicators Daimler ranked 8th in the world, with 65 of its designs in industrial design registrations being published under the
Hague System during 2020. This position is up on its previous 10th-place ranking in 2019.
Since 2022: Mercedes-Benz Group On 28 January 2022, CEO Ola Källenius announced that Daimler would change its name to Mercedes-Benz to pursue a higher valuation for the company as it shifts deeper into high-tech electric vehicles. On 1 February 2022, Daimler officially changed its registered company name to Mercedes-Benz Group AG. Sales of Mercedes-Benz Group vehicles in 2023 – 2,491,600 (+1.5%). Sales of superior products increased:
Mercedes-Maybach (+19%),
G-Class (+11%) and
Mercedes-AMG (+4%). Fully electric Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales rose by 73% during the year. Only Core segment sales declined by 2%, with 1,096,800 units sold due to supplier bottlenecks and the transition to the new
E-Class. In January 2026, the company was reported to be among the top 30 global investors in
research and development (R&D) in 2025. ==Corporate affairs==