Mercedes-Benz Group AG

Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1885 — widely recognised as the world's first true automobile: a vehicle with a petrol-powered internal combustion engine designed specifically for road use, rather than a steam carriage or experimental prototype. Benz patented the design on January 29, 1886 — a date Mercedes-Benz marks as the birthday of the automobile. Simultaneously, and independently, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach were developing their own petrol engine and fitting it to a carriage in Stuttgart, 60 miles away. The two companies would compete for decades before merging.

The Mercedes name has a specific origin: Emil Jellinek, an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and racing enthusiast who had become Daimler's primary sales agent, commissioned a new racing car in 1900 and insisted it be named after his daughter, Mercedes. The car, designed by Wilhelm Maybach, was so successful on the racing circuit that Jellinek ordered 36 of them — the largest single automotive order in history at the time — on the condition that Daimler use the Mercedes name on all its models. Mercedes Jellinek herself never drove.

Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie merged in June 1926 to form Daimler-Benz AG — uniting the two companies founded by the men who had independently invented the automobile forty years earlier. The merger was driven by economic necessity: the post-World War I German economy was devastated, and both companies needed to consolidate to survive. The combined company adopted the Mercedes-Benz brand for its cars and the three-pointed star — representing Daimler's ambition to motorise land, sea, and air — as its emblem.

Mercedes-Benz returned to motorsport in 1954 after a hiatus following World War II, winning both the Formula One and sports car world championships in its first season back. The 300 SL Gullwing road car, launched simultaneously, became one of the most iconic automobiles ever built — its distinctive upward-opening doors necessitated by the space frame chassis structure. The 300 SL was the fastest production car in the world in 1954 and established Mercedes-Benz as the pinnacle of automotive engineering in the postwar era.

Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler in 1998 in a $38 billion deal described as a "merger of equals." It was not equal. German executives gradually took control, Chrysler's management was replaced, and cultural clashes between the German and American workforces were severe. Chrysler lost billions as its market position in the U.S. deteriorated. Daimler eventually sold Chrysler to private equity firm Cerberus Capital in 2007 for $7.4 billion — having paid $36 billion to acquire it nine years earlier. The company refocused on Mercedes-Benz and has since become one of the most profitable luxury automotive brands in the world.