What Makes a Mercedes Benz Unique?
With the tagline "The Best or Nothing," the Mercedes Benz brand is one that emphasizes not just performance, but everything that makes a vehicle great to drive. This means innovative features, an artistically engineered design, high safety standards, good after-sales service, and a focus on making the vehicle as environmentally-friendly as possible without compromising its performance. As one of the few automobile companies that hasn't undergone any corporate ownership changes, the brand still maintains the values and ways that made it a household name in the first place.
What is the history of the Mercedes Benz brand?
The brand's origins trace back in 1886, with Karl Benz creating the first petrol-powered car, financed by his wife, Bertha Benz. In 1888, his wife took one of his creations on what would be the first long-distance trip by car to prove to her husband that he had a marketable product. In 1901, the Mercedes 35 hp automobile, which was named after the daughter of Daimler agent Emil Jellinek, was first marketed by the Daimler Motor Corporation. The first Mercedes-Benz-trademarked vehicle was produced in 1926, following a merger of the Daimler-Benz companies. The company continued to produce vehicles through World War II, with models including the 770, 300SL, and the 170V sedan. As of 2018, the company exists unchanged in terms of ownership and is one of the companies that was not as adversely affected as other luxury brands during times of recession.
How did Mercedes-Benz (MB) remain competitive?
- All MB cars produced before 1972 were hand-built, adding to their appeal. Many old MB cars still sell for high prices because of this.
- Through the 1970s and 1980s, the company's reputation for quality helped it maintain a stronghold on the market.
- In the 1990s, the company faced heavy competition from Japanese automobile companies, but retaliated by increasing the luxury factor of MB cars with features not offered by other companies.
- In 1999, MB acquired AMG, a custom tuning house. AMG engines are individually built with detail and precision, making AMG-model cars the best-performing and most premium models in the MB range.
What types of cars are produced by Mercedes-Benz?
The brand produces a variety of different vehicle types, and this includes sedans, wagons, coupes, SUVs, roadsters, convertibles, electric and hybrid vehicles, vans, and trucks. Features and performance vary according to models, but most people would say that Mercedes-Benz vehicles, in their own eras and beyond, live up to the brand's "The Best or Nothing" tagline.