Mercedes-Benz From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Mercedes-benz) This article is about the manufacturer. For the song, see Mercedes Benz (song). Mercedes-Benz Type Subsidiary Industry Manufacturing Predecessor(s) Benz & Cie. Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft Founded 1886 Founder(s) Karl Benz Headquarters Stuttgart, Germany Area served Worldwide Key people Dieter Zetsche, Chairman Products Automobiles Trucks Buses Internal combustion engines Services Financial services Parent Daimler AG Divisions Mercedes-Benz AMG Website www.mercedes-benz.com Mercedes-Benz (German pronunciation: [mɛʁˈ tseː d ə s ˈb ɛ nts]) is a multinational division of the German manufacturer Daimler AG, and the brand is used for luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name first appeared in 1926 under Daimler-Benz but traces its origins to Daimler's 1901 Mercedes and to Karl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen, widely regarded as the first automobile. Contents [hide] • 1 History • 2 Subsidiaries and alliances o 2.1 Mercedes-AMG o 2.2 Mercedes-Benz McLaren • 3 Production o 3.1 Factories o 3.2 Quality rankings • 4 Models o 4.1 Current model range . 4.1.1 Trucks . 4.1.2 Buses . 4.1.3 Vans o 4.2 Significant models produced o 4.3 Car nomenclature o 4.4 Environmental record o 4.5 Bicycles • 5 Motorsport o 5.1 Formula 1 • 6 Noted employees • 7 Innovations o 7.1 Robot cars • 8 Tuners • 9 Sponsorships • 10 See also • 11 References • 12 External links [edit]History Main articles: Karl Benz, Bertha Benz, Gottlieb Daimler, Emil Jellinek, Wilhelm Maybach, and Daimler- Motoren-Gesellschaft Karl Benz made the 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen, widely regarded as the first automobile, in Mannheim, Germany Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Karl Benz's creation of the first petrol-powered car, the Benz Patent Motorwagen, patented in January 1886[1] and Gottlieb Daimler and engineer Wilhelm Maybach's conversion of a stagecoach by the addition of a petrol engine later that year. The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. The first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz's and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company. [1] Mercedes-Benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations that later became common in other vehicles.[2] Mercedes-Benz is one of the most well-known and established automotive brands in the world, and is also the world's oldest automotive brand still in existence today. For information relating to the famous three-pointed star, see under the title Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft including the merger into Daimler-Benz. [edit]Subsidiaries and alliances As part of the Daimler AG company, the Mercedes-Benz Cars division includes Mercedes- Benz, Smart and Maybach car production.[3] [edit]Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG became a majority owned division of Mercedes-Benz in 1998.[4] The company was integrated into DaimlerChrysler in 1999,[5]and became Mercedes-Benz AMG beginning on 1 January 1999.[6] [edit]Mercedes-Benz McLaren Between 2003 and 2009, Mercedes-Benz produced a limited-production sports car with McLaren Cars. The resulting Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren was an extension of the collaboration by which Mercedes engines are used by the Team McLaren-Mercedes Formula One racing team, which was then part owned by Mercedes. McLaren ceased production of the SLR in 2009 and went on to develop its own car, theMcLaren MP4-12C, launched in 2011. [edit]Production [edit]Factories Besides its native Germany, Mercedes-Benz vehicles are also manufactured or assembled in: • Argentina - manufactures buses, trucks and the Sprinter van. This is the first Mercedes-Benz factory outside of Germany.[7] • Austria (G-Class)[8] • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Brazil[9] - manufactures trucks, buses and the C-Class. Established in 1956. The A-Class (W168) was produced from 1999 to 2005 as well. • Canada • China • Egypt via Egyptian German Automotive Company • Finland[10] via Valmet Automotive • Hungary[11] • India (Pune)[12] • India, Chennai (Daimler India Commercial Vehicle ) - Trucks & Engine Manufacturing unit • India, Bangalore (R&D) • Indonesia[13] • Iran (not since 2010[14]) • Malaysia[15] • Mexico - (Mercedes-Benz Mexico fully manufactures some Mercedes and Daimler vehicles completely from locally built parts (C-Class, E-Class, M-Class, International trucks, Axor, Atego, and Mercedes Buses), manufactures other models in complete knock down kits (CL-Class, CLK-Class, SL-Class, SLK- Class) and manufactures a select number of models in semi knockdown kits which use both imported components and locally sourced Mexican components (S-Class, CLS-Class, R-Class, GL-Class, Sprinter). • Nigeria[16] - assembly of buses, trucks, utility motors and the Sprinter van • Philippines • Spain - factory at Vitoria-Gasteiz, Mercedes-Benz Vito have been built there. • South Africa[17] • South Korea - Mercedes-Benz Musso and MB100 models manufactured bySsangYong Motor Company. • Thailand - assembly of C, E and S class vehicles by the Thonburi Group[18] • Turkey[19] • United Kingdom - the SLR sports car was built at the McLaren Technology Centre inWoking. Brackley, Northamptonshire, is home to the Mercedes Grand Prix factory, and Brixworth, Northamptonshire is the location of Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines • United States - 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.[20] Trucks (6,000 per year in the late seventies) were once assembled in Hampton, VA.[21] • Vietnam - assembly of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Established in 1995.[22] [edit]Quality rankings Objective measures looking at passenger vehicles, such as J.D. Power surveys, demonstrated a downturn in the quality and reliability ratings of Mercedes vehicles in the late 1990s and early 2000s. By mid-2005, Mercedes temporarily returned to the industry average for initial quality, a measure of problems after the first 90 days of ownership, according to J.D. Power.[23] In J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study for the first quarter of 2007, Mercedes showed dramatic improvement by climbing from 25th to 5th place, for the first time surpassing quality leader Toyota, and earning several awards for its models.[24] For 2008, Mercedes-Benz's initial quality rating improved by yet another mark, to fourth place.[25] On top of this accolade, it also received the Platinum Plant Quality Award for its Mercedes’ Sindelfingen, Germany assembly plant.[25] J.D. Power's 2011 US Initial Quality and Vehicle Dependability Studies both ranked Mercedes-Benz vehicles above average in build quality and reliability.[26][27] In the 2011 UK JD Power Survey, Mercedes cars rated above average (scoring ahead of both BMW and Audi, but trailing behind in its quality rating to the industry leader Lexus, as has been the case in all previous years).[28] [edit]Current model range Mercedes-Benz carries a full range of passenger, light commercial and heavy commercial equipment. Vehicles are manufactured in multiple countries worldwide. The Smart marque of city cars and Maybach luxury cars are also produced by Daimler AG. Trucks Mercedes-Benz Trucks is now part of the Daimler Trucks division, and includes companies that were part of the DaimlerChrysler merger. Gottlieb Daimler sold the world's first truck in 1886.[29] [edit]Buses Mercedes-Benz produces a wide range of buses and coaches, mainly for Europe and Asia. The first model was produced by Karl Benz in 1895. [edit]Vans Mercedes-Benz produces a range of vans including the Vito, Sprinter van and Vario. In 2012 it announced the Citan, a version of the Renault Kangoo. The first factory to be built outside Germany after WWII was in Argentina. It originally built trucks, many of which were modified independently to buses, popularly named Colectivo. Today, it builds buses, trucks and the Sprinter van. [edit]Car nomenclature Until 1994, Mercedes-Benz used an alphanumeric system for categorising their vehicles, consisting of a number sequence approximately equal to the engine's displacement in liters multiplied by 100, followed by an arrangement of alphabetical suffixes indicating body style and engine type. • "C" indicates a coupe or cabriolet body style. • "D" indicates the vehicle is equipped with a diesel engine. • "E" (for "Einspritzen") indicates the vehicle's engine is equipped with petrol fuel injection. In most cases (the 600 limousine being the exception), if neither "E" or "D" is present, the vehicle has a petrol engine with a carburettor. • "G" indicates the Geländewagen off-road vehicle. • "K" was used in the 1930s, indicating a supercharger ("Kompressor") equipped engine. One exception is the SSK, where K indicates "Kurz" (short-wheelbase). • "L" indicates "Leicht" (lightweight) for sporting models, and "Lang" (long-wheelbase) for sedan models. • "R" indicates "Rennen" (racing), used for racing cars (for example, the 300SLR). • "S" Sonderklasse "Special class" for flagship models. • "T" indicates "Touring" and an estate (or station wagon) body style. Some models in the 1950s also had lower-case letters (b, c, and d) to indicate specific trim levels. For some models, the numeric part of the designation does not match the engine displacement. This was done to show the model's position in the model lineup independent of displacement or in the price matrix. For these vehicles, the actual displacement in liters is suffixed to the model designation. For example, the 190-class all had "190" for the numeric designation, regardless of the engine size, to indicate their entry-level status. Also, some older models (such as the SS and SSK) did not have a number as part of the designation at all. For the 1994 model year, Mercedes-Benz revised the naming system. Models were divided into "classes" denoted by an arrangement of up to three letters (see "Current model range" above), followed by a three-digit (or two-digit for AMG models, with the number approximately equal to the displacement in liters multiplied by 10) number related to the engine size, as before.