Daimler-Benz

Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal

combustion engines; which was founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was

valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and

Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had been founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm

Maybach. Daimler had died in 1900, and Maybach had left in 1907.

Both companies continued to manufacture their separate automobile and internal combustion

engine marques until, on 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 sold by DMG - following his death in

1900 - for use by other companies (Daimler Motor Company and Austro-Daimler), so the new

company, Daimler-Benz, would have created confusion and legal problems to include Daimler in

its new brand name, and therefore, used 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 aircraft, tank, and submarine engines. Daimler also

produced parts for German arms, most notably barrels for the Mauser rifle.

In 1998, Daimler-Benz AG bought the American automobile manufacturer Chrysler Corporation,

and formed DaimlerChrysler AG. When the Chrysler Group was subsequently sold off to Cerberus

Capital Management and renamed Chrysler LLC in August, 2007, the name of the parent company

was changed to simply Daimler AG within two months.

Credit for this page must go to the excellent Wikipedia, the original page can be found