Mercedes-Benz (German pronunciation: [mɛʁˌtseːdəs ˈbɛnts, -dɛs -] ), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German luxury automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Mercedes-Benz AG manufactures luxury vehicles and light commercial vehicles, all branded under the Mercedes-Benz name. From November 2019 onwards, the production of Mercedes-Benz-branded heavy commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) has been managed by Daimler Truck, which separated from the Mercedes-Benz Group to form an independent entity at the end of 2021.
In 2018, Mercedes-Benz became the world's largest premium vehicle brand, with a sales volume of 2.31 million passenger cars.
The roots of the brand trace back to the 1901 Mercedes by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and the 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen and 1894 Benz Velo by Carl Benz, which is widely recognised as the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine. The brand’s slogan is "The Best or Nothing".
Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Carl Benz's first internal combustion engine in a car, seen in the Benz Patent-Motorwagen – financed by Bertha Benz's dowry and patented in January 1886 – and Gottlieb Daimler and its engineer Wilhelm Maybach's conversion of a stagecoach, with the addition of a petrol engine, introduced later that year. The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG).
Emil Jellinek, an Austrian automobile entrepreneur who worked with DMG, registered the trademark in 1902, naming the 1901 Mercedes 35 hp after his daughter Mercédès Jellinek. Jellinek was a businessman and marketing strategist who promoted "horseless" Daimler automobiles among the highest circles of society. At the time, it was a meeting place for the haute volée of France and Europe, especially in winter. His customers included the Rothschild family and other wealthy clients, but as early as 1901, he was selling Mercedes cars in the "New World" as well, including to billionaires Rockefeller, Astor, Morgan, and Taylor. At the Nice race he attended in 1899, Jellinek drove under the pseudonym "Monsieur Mercédès". Many consider that race the birth of Mercedes-Benz as a brand. In 1901, the name "Mercedes" was re-registered by DMG worldwide as a protected trademark. The first Mercedes-Benz branded vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company on 28 June of the same year.
Gottlieb Daimler was born on 17 March 1834 in Schorndorf. After training as a gunsmith and working in France, he attended the Polytechnic School in Stuttgart from 1857 to 1859. After completing various technical activities in France and England, he started working as a draftsman in Geislingen in 1862. At the end of 1863, he was appointed workshop inspector at a machine-tool factory in Reutlingen, where he met Wilhelm Maybach in 1865.
Throughout the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz produced the 770 model, a car that was notably popular throughout Germany's Nazi period. Adolf Hitler was known to have driven in a model of this car during his time in power, with modified custom bulletproof windshields. However, most of the currently surviving 770 models were sold at auctions due to private buyers. One of the cars is currently on display at the War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario.
From 1937 onward, Daimler Benz focused increasingly on military products such as the LG3000 lorry and the DB600 and the DB601 aero engines. To build the latter, in 1936, it built a factory hidden in the forest at Genshagen around 10 km south of Berlin. By 1942, the company had mostly stopped producing cars, and was now devoted to war production. According to its own statement, in 1944, almost half of its 63,610 employees were forced labourers, prisoners of war, or concentration-camp detainees. Another source quotes this figure at 46,000. The company later paid $12 million in reparations to the labourers' families.
In 1958, the two companies began a partnership to sell its cars in the United States with Studebaker. A few American-based Daimler Benz dealerships were converted into Mercedes-Benz dealerships when Daimler's non-Mercedes-partnered company closed in 1966.
Over the decades, Mercedes-Benz has introduced many electronic and mechanical innovations and safety features that later became common. Currently, Mercedes-Benz is one of the best-known and longest-standing automotive brands in the world. The pontiff's Popemobile has often been sourced from Mercedes-Benz.
In November 2019, Daimler AG announced that Mercedes-Benz, until that point a company marque, would be spun off into a separate, wholly owned subsidiary called Mercedes-Benz AG. The new subsidiary would manage the Mercedes-Benz car and van business. Mercedes-Benz-badged trucks and buses would be part of the Daimler Truck AG subsidiary.
For information relating to the three-pointed star symbol of the brand, see under the title Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, including the merger into Daimler-Benz.
In May 2022, Mercedes-Benz announced that it had recently sold the most expensive car at the price of $142 million (€135 million). The car is a very rare 1955 Mercedes-Benz SLR that has been kept in the German automaker's collection and bought by a private owner. Mercedes in an announcement said that the sale will be used to establish the Mercedes-Benz Fund.
In June 2022, Mercedes-Benz recalled almost one million vehicles built between 2004 and 2015, due to potential problems with their braking system, caused by possible "advanced corrosion".
As of the Daimler AG company split, the Mercedes-Benz Cars division now handled the Mercedes-Benz- and the Smart-branded cars' production.
Mercedes-AMG became a majority-owned division of Mercedes-Benz in 1999. The company was integrated into DaimlerChrysler in 1999, and became Mercedes-Benz AMG on 1 January 1999.
Daimler's ultra-luxury Maybach brand was under the Mercedes-Benz Cars division until December 2012, when production was stopped due to decreased sales. It now exists under the Mercedes-Maybach name, with the models being luxury-focused, enhanced models of Mercedes-Benz cars, such as the 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600. The Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 SUV debuted in November 2019.
Daimler partnered with BYD Auto to make and sell a battery-electric car called Denza in China. However, after reducing its stake in 2021, the Stuttgart-based company has now exited Denza completely: the Mercedes-Benz Group is no longer involved in the Chinese car brand Denza, as it sold its last ten per cent stake in Denza in July 2024. In 2016, Daimler announced plans to sell Mercedes-Benz-badged fully electric battery cars in China. Beijing Benz is a joint venture with the BAIC Group to produce the Mercedes-Benz branded cars in China.