Daimler AG

▪ international automotive company

Introduction

      international automotive company. One of the world's leading car and truck manufacturers, its vehicle brands include Mercedes-Benz, Maybach (luxury automobiles), and Smart (micro hybrid cars). Daimler manufactures commercial vehicles under brands such as Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star, Setra, Thomas Built Buses, Orion, and Fuso. The company is also involved in technological research and financial services. Daimler's headquarters are in Stuttgart, Ger.

History

      Daimler-Benz was formed in 1926 by the merger of two pioneering German automobile companies, one founded by Karl Benz (Benz, Karl), the other by Gottlieb Daimler (Daimler, Gottlieb). Both Benz and Daimler claimed to have invented the gasoline-powered auto engine. Benz built his first automobile, which was powered by a one-cylinder gasoline engine, in 1885 and started selling cars in 1887. Daimler designed a series of gasoline-powered engines in 1883 and received a German patent on a three-wheeled gasoline-powered vehicle in 1885.

      In 1890 Daimler formed the firm of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft to manufacture his rapidly growing line of Daimler autos. The first Daimler-produced luxury car was sold to the sultan of Morocco in 1889. In 1901 Daimler sold the first Mercedes, which was equipped with a four-cylinder engine. Emil Jellinek, a diplomat and major Daimler investor, had suggested that the line be named after his daughter Mercedes because he feared the German-sounding Daimler name would not sell well in France.

      The Benz company produced trucks as well as autos. Benz began producing trucks with fuel-saving diesel engines, which sprayed fuel oil into the combustion chamber under high pressure, before World War I.

      After the merger of the two rival companies in 1926, their engineering staffs worked together to design the classic “S” series Mercedes. Daimler-Benz was the first company to use diesel engines in passenger cars; the diesel-equipped Mercedes-Benz became available in 1936.

      During World War II, Daimler-Benz engines were used extensively in German tanks, bombers, and fighter planes. In 1944 the Daimler-Benz factories were almost totally destroyed by Allied bombing, but they were eventually rebuilt. By the early 1980s high demand for the Mercedes both in Germany and abroad made Daimler-Benz Germany's largest automaker in terms of sales value. In the mid-1980s Daimler-Benz sought to diversify into high technology by acquiring AEG AG (a maker of electrical systems, turbine engines, and radio and radar communications systems); Dornier GmbH (aerospace and medical products); and Motoren & Turbinen Union GmbH (aircraft engines). Many of the acquisitions, however, were not profitable, and in the mid-1990s Daimler-Benz underwent a major restructuring, as numerous subsidiary businesses were sold and the company's workforce was drastically reduced.

Merger with Chrysler

      In May 1998 Chrysler Corporation (Chrysler LLC) and Daimler-Benz announced plans to merge, with Daimler-Benz acquiring the U.S. automaker for more than $35 billion in a stock swap. Shareholders from each company approved the deal in September, and the merger was completed on Nov. 12, 1998; DaimlerChrysler stock began trading on stock exchanges later that month. Under the terms of the merger agreement, there would be dual headquarters and chairmen, and DaimlerChrysler's official language would be English. It was also stressed that the product brand identities would be kept separate (i.e., no Mercedes would be sold at a Chrysler dealership, no Chrysler car would carry Mercedes's three-pointed star emblem).

      In the early 2000s DaimlerChrysler sought to strengthen its position in the automobile industry. It bought 34 percent of Mitsubishi Motors in 2000, a move that made DaimlerChrysler the third largest automaker in the world (after General Motors Corporation and the Ford Motor Company). The following year the company sold Adtranz, a supplier of rail systems, in order to concentrate on its automotive business. Its deal with Mitsubishi, however, proved to be a financial drain, and by 2005 DaimlerChrysler had fully divested its stake in the Japanese automotive corporation. The Chrysler division posted a loss of $1.5 billion in 2006, precipitating its sale to the U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in 2007. DaimlerChrysler renamed itself Daimler AG in October 2007.

* * *