Today, Mercedes-Benz is a familiar household name. Few people consider where it originally came from, but the history of the car and its name are fascinating. Read on to find out about how German innovation and marketing strategy helped build the Mercedes-Benz brand.
Back to the Beginning
You won’t find any used mercedes for sale from the early days of this automaker because they date back to 1866, when a man named Karl Benz placed an internal combustion engine within a car. The very first vehicle he made was called the Benz Patent Motorwagen, which is believed to be the world’s first car.
Two decades later, in 1886, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach made essential changes to the first Mercedes-Benz vehicle by incorporating a petrol engine. At that time, the vehicles were marketed under the name Daimler Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG).
There’s a fun story about the first driver, Karl’s wife Bertha Benz, on the road to forging the Mercedes-Benz story. To support her husband, she took her two sons and spent twelve hours driving over 100 kilometers on mostly unpaved roads to Pforzheim as a stunt. The story has gone down in automotive history.
So, it’s clear where the “Benz” in Mercedes-Benz came from. What about the Mercedes part? Let’s find out.
The Birth of the Mercedes
The “Mercedes” name first emerged in 1901. Gottlieb Daimler, the owner of DMG, had recently died. He passed away with a serious reputation for automotive excellence, thanks in part to a German-born racing enthusiast named Emil Jellinek, who helped market the Daimler autos to the wealthiest clients.
Wondering what the connection is? In 1899, Jellinek drove under the name Monsieur Mercedes in honor of his daughter, Mércedès. His daughter’s Spanish Christian name can be translated as “Mercy.”
In 1901, DMG trademarked the name, and Jellinek began marketing the vehicle abroad. It was at this point that horseless vehicles began to see popularity among rich and influential American families like the Rockefellers and the Morgans.
Bringing in the Benz
In 1926, DMG merged with a company called Benz & Cie. At the time, the company called itself “Daimler-Benz.” Benz was also added to the Mercedes model’s name. The company went on to become Daimler AG when it sold Chrysler. It wasn’t until 2019 that Mercedes-Benz became an automaker in its own right. It was at this point that Daimler AG decided to create a subsidiary called Mercedes-Benz AG.
What About the Mercedes-Benz Logo?
Now that you know where the Mercedes in the name came from, let’s take a moment to examine the automaker’s logo. The three-pointed star first appeared on a postcard that Daimler sent to his wife in the 1870s. He used the symbol to mark their residence and stated that one day, it would shine over their successful factories.
Daimler’s sons recommended using their father’s star as the company’s logo in 1901 when DMG registered Mercedes as a trademark. It was trademarked in 1910 by DMG. The symbol was further refined in 1937 to be three-dimensional and contained in a circle. The same logo can be seen on Mercedes-Benz vehicles today.
What It Means for Mercedes-Benz Owners
For most Mercedes-Benz owners, understanding the history of the company’s name won’t change much about how they feel about their cars. However, it’s interesting to learn these facts about one of the world’s most popular automotive manufacturers. Next time they’re at the Mercedes-Benz dealership, drivers can think back on the history of the name and logo and how they have shaped the modern company.
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