TASK 1: DESCRIPTION OF GENERAL DETAILS OF THE FIRM
* Basic information: location, size, history, business sector, competitors, organizational structure.
Location and size:
Besides its native Germany, Mercedes-Benz vehicles are also manufactured or assembled in:
• Argentina (buses, trucks and the Sprinter van. The first Mercedes-Benz factory outside of Germany) • Austria • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Brazil (buses, trucks, C-class passenger cars (export only), established in 1956) • Canada • Egypt • Ghana (buses, trucks, taxis) • Hungary (construction of a new plant in the country announced on 18 June 2008, for the next generation A- and B-Class) • Ind • Indonesia • Iran • Malaysia • Mexico • Nigeria (buses, trucks, utility motors and the van Sprinter) • South Africa • South Korea (Mercedes-Benz Musso and MB100 models manufactured by SsangYong Motor Company) • Thailand (assembly of C, E and S class vehicles by the Thonburi Group) • Turkey • United Kingdom (The SLR sports car is built at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking).Brackley, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom Mercedes Grand Prix Factory • USA The Mercedes-Benz M-Class Sport Utility, the R-Class Sport Tourer, and the full-sized GL-Class Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle are all built at the Mercedes-Benz production facility near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
And, of course, Mercedes Benz vehicles are sold everywhere in the world and since the beginning until now Mercedes Benz has become one of the biggest companies ever. HISTORY
When Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz invented the high-speed engine and the automobile independently of each other in the 1880s, they laid the foundations for motorised private transport. With the help of financial backers and partners, both engineers carried out private development work at their own companies. Benz founded Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik in Mannheim in October 1883; the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) was founded in Cannstatt in November 1890.
Both companies wanted to come up with a memorable trademark to make their products both distinctive and familiar. Initially they opted for their own names – Benz and Daimler – to represent the origins and quality of their engines and vehicles. The Benz & Cie. trademark did not change (though the gearwheel used in 1903 was replaced by a laurel wreath encircling the Benz name from 1909). However, the products of DMG appeared under the new brand name Mercedes at the turn of the century.
Together with businessman Max Rose and trade representative Friedrich Wilhelm Esslinger Karl Benz founded the Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotoren-Fabrik (called Benz & Cie. after 1899) as a public incorporated corporation.
After the war both DMG and Benz & Cie. were affected by the economic crisis. Diversification was necessary and as a result typewriters were produced in Untertürkheim along with cars.
On 22 December 1900, the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft delivered to Jellinek the first car equipped with a new engine – a 35 hp racing car. The vehicle was far above and beyond the vehicles previously designed and built by DMB and ended the "coach" era in automotive construction. Developed by Wilhelm Maybach, Chief Design Engineer at DMG, this first "Mercedes" caused a sensation at the beginning of the last century. With its low centre of gravity, a compressed-steel frame, the light and powerful engine and the honeycomb radiator, it introduced many innovations and is seen today as the first automobile of its generation.
The newly created automobile company, Mercedes-Benz also needed a new image symbolising its enterprise union. The iconic three-pointed star is pervasive and unmistakably recognised around the world. But its design has evolved in many ways since the two companies merged in 1926. One early logo was trademarked in the United States on Friday, 16 August 1929. An application was filed for Mercedes-Benz by Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft of Berlin, Germany with the USPTO. Their application was filed in the primary class of non-metallic building materials and provide a description that included, "automotive vehicles, as follows: passenger cars and freight trucks; parts of and accessories to said vehicles…"
The drawing design Mercedes-Benz logo is a registered trademark at the USPTO, and owned by Daimler AG
The design of the Mercedes-Benz signature logo was described by the USPTO with three aspects, 1) Stars with three points (Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, Geographical maps — Stars, comets), 2) Garlands, wreaths, bands, borders or frames made of plants (Plants — Decorations made of plants), and 3) Circular or elliptical seals (Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows, and symbols — Seals).
Daimler-Benz elaborates on their use of the new logo and its representations in their 1928 application. Based upon their description, it appears they combined design elements from each automobile company to create a new logo reflecting each company's legacy. They stated that the trademark was applied to goods in their business since October 1926 with the trademark, "having been used in the business of the applicant's predecessors and in the business of applicant, continuously since the following dates. The word Mercedes since December 1900; the word Benz since July 1896; the representation of a three-pointed star since 27 June 1909, the representation of a wreath of laurel since September, 1909."[3] In their U.S. trademark application, Daimler-Benz stated that their trademark was registered in Germany on 28 August 1928 with an application date of 21 August 1926.
U.S. trademark registration was granted on 28 July 1931. Its current status is registered and renewed with the latest owner listed as Daimler AG of Stuttgart, Germany.[3] Mercedes-Benz is currently owned by Daimler AG in Germany.
The Mercedes Benz logo.
Business sector:
Mercedes Benz is inside the automobilist sector. It tries to provide to the customers cars with high quality as it is said by several quality tests, at good relation price-quality. Mercedes Benz sells different kinds of car, Mercedes-Benz has a full range of passenger, light commercial and heavy commercial equipment. Production is on a global basis. The Smart marque of city cars has also been part of the Mercedes-Benz Group since 1994. They produce passenger cars, trucks, buses and vans and even nowadays they have begun producing electric-cars. They have their own way of production, which is designed and manufactured using the best materials provided by these trades. The purpose of the group is creating desirability and making the pleasure and benefits of driving available to everyone.
Competitors:
The competitors of Mercedes Benz are the biggest companies that produces cars, mainly the strongest one such as BMW or Porsche.