. for the song see mercedes benz song . mercedes benz the best or nothing type division industry automotive industry predecessor benz & cie. 1883 1926 daimler motoren gesellschaft 1890 1926 founded 1926 ; 90 years ago 1926 founder karl benz and gottlieb daimler headquarters stuttgart germany number of locations indonesia india united states malaysia singapore brunei china taiwan canada germany russia south africa area served worldwide key people dieter zetsche chairman products automobiles trucks buses internal combustion engines luxury vehicles services financial services automobile repair owner daimler ag divisions mercedes amg mercedes maybach website www.mercedes benz.com en mercedes benz german pronunciation m tse d s b nts is a global automobile manufacturer and a division of the german company daimler ag . the brand is known for luxury vehicles buses coaches and trucks . the headquarters of mercedes benz is in stuttgart baden w rttemberg germany . the name first appeared in 1926 under daimler benz but traces its origins to daimler motoren gesellschaft s 1901 mercedes and to karl benz s 1886 benz patent motorwagen which is widely regarded as the first gasoline powered automobile . mercedes benz s slogan is the best or nothing . mercedes benz is one of the most recognized automotive brands worldwide . 1 contents 1 history 2 subsidiaries and alliances 2.1 mercedes amg 2.2 maybach 2.3 china 3 production 3.1 factories 3.2 quality rankings 4 models 4.1 current model range 4.1.1 vans 4.1.2 trucks 4.1.3 buses 4.2 significant models produced 4.3 car nomenclature 4.3.1 2015 and beyond 4.4 environmental record 4.5 bicycles 5 motorsport 5.1 formula one 6 logo history 7 noted employees 8 innovations 8.1 robot cars 9 tuners 10 sponsorships 11 see also 12 references 13 external links history edit karl benz . benz made the 1886 benz patent motorwagen which is widely regarded as the first automobile . gottlieb daimler founder of daimler motoren gesellschaft . mercedes benz traces its origins to karl benz s creation of the first petrol powered car the benz patent motorwagen financed by bertha benz 2 and patented in january 1886 3 and gottlieb daimler and engineer wilhelm maybach s conversion of a stagecoach by the addition of a petrol engine later that year . the mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by daimler motoren gesellschaft . daimler motors corporation . emil jellinek an austrian automobile entrepreneur who worked with dmg created the trademark in 1902 naming the 1901 mercedes 35hp after his daughter mercedes jellinek . the first mercedes benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926 following the merger of karl benz s and gottlieb daimler s companies into the daimler benz company . 3 4 on 28 june 1926 mercedes benz was formed with the merger of karl benz and gottlieb daimler s two companies . throughout the 1930s mercedes benz produced the 770 model a car that was popular during germany s nazi period . adolf hitler was known to have driven these cars during his time in power with bulletproof windshields . 5 most of the surviving models have been sold at auctions to private buyers . one of them is currently on display at the war museum in ottawa ontario . the pontiff s popemobile has often been sourced from mercedes benz . 6 mercedes benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations that later became common in other vehicles . 7 mercedes benz is one of the best known and established automotive brands in the world . for information relating to the famous three pointed star see under the title daimler motoren gesellschaft including the merger into daimler benz . subsidiaries and alliances edit as part of the daimler ag company the mercedes benz cars division includes mercedes benz and smart car production . 8 mercedes amg edit mercedes amg became a majority owned division of mercedes benz in 1999 . 9 the company was integrated into daimlerchrysler in 1999 10 and became mercedes benz amg beginning on 1 january 1999 . 11 maybach edit daimler s ultra luxury brand maybach was under mercedes benz cars division until 2013 when the production stopped due to poor sales volumes . it now exists under the mercedes maybach name with the models being ultra luxury versions of mercedes cars such as the 2016 mercedes maybach s600 . china edit daimler coorporates with byd auto to make and sell a battery electric car called denza in china . 12 in 2016 daimler announced plans to sell mercedes benz branded all electric battery cars in china . 13 production edit factories edit beside its native germany mercedes benz vehicles are also manufactured or assembled in sovereign state continent note algeria africa manufactures buses and trucks in cooperation with snvi actros zetros unimog and g class sprinter . argentina south america manufactures buses trucks and the sprinter van . this is the first mercedes benz factory outside of germany . built in 1951 . 14 austria europe g class 15 bosnia and herzegovina europe brazil south america manufactures trucks and buses . established in 1956 . the a class w168 was produced from 1999 to 2005 and the c class was produced until 2010 as well . 16 canada north america fuel cell plant in burnaby british columbia opened 2012 . colombia south america assembly of buses established in soacha 2012 and funza 2015 china asia egypt africa via egyptian german automotive company e class c class and glk finland europe new a series w176 is manufactured in uusikaupunki since late 2013 being the first m b passenger car ever built in that country hungary 17 europe jordan asia bus company factory elba house amman . india asia bangalore mbrdi pune passenger cars . 18 chennai daimler india commercial vehicles pvt. ltd. buses trucks & engine manufacturing unit . indonesia 19 asia australia iran 20 asia malaysia asia assembly of c e and s class vehicles by drb hicom . mexico north america mercedes benz mexico fully manufactures some mercedes and daimler vehicles completely from locally built parts c class e class m class international trucks axor atego and mercedes buses manufactures other models in complete knock down kits cl class clk class sl class slk class and manufactures a select number of models in semi knockdown kits which use both imported components and locally sourced mexican components s class cls class r class gl class sprinter . nigeria africa assembly of buses trucks utility motors and the sprinter van 21 philippines asia russia eurasia joint venture mercedes benz car trucks vostok in naberezhnye chelny jointly kamaz . available in trucks actros axor multi purpose auto four wheel drive medium trucks unimog . mercedes benz sprinter classic is also produced in russia . serbia europe fap produces mercedes benz trucks under license . spain europe factory at vitoria gasteiz mercedes benz vito viano and v class have been built there . south africa 22 africa the assembly plant is located in east london in the eastern cape province where both right and left hand versions of the c class are built . south korea asia mercedes benz musso and mb100 models manufactured by ssangyong motor company . thailand asia assembly of c e and s class vehicles by the thonburi group 23 turkey eurasia mercedes benz t rk a. . 24 united kingdom europe the slr sports car was built at the mclaren technology centre in woking . brackley northamptonshire is home to the mercedes grand prix factory and brixworth northamptonshire is the location of mercedes benz highperformanceengines united states north america the mercedes benz gle class sport utility and the full sized gl class luxury sport utility vehicle are all built at the mercedes benz u.s. international production facility near tuscaloosa alabama . 25 trucks 6 000 per year in the early eighties were once assembled in hampton va. 26 vietnam asia assembly of e class c class s class glk class and sprinter . established in 1995 . 27 quality rankings edit since its inception mercedes benz had maintained a reputation for its quality and durability . objective measures looking at passenger vehicles such as j. d. power surveys demonstrated a downturn in reputation in these criteria in the late 1990s and early 2000s . by mid 2005 mercedes temporarily returned to the industry average for initial quality a measure of problems after the first 90 days of ownership according to j. d. power . 28 in j. d. power s initial quality study for the first quarter of 2007 mercedes showed dramatic improvement by climbing from 25th to 5th place and earning several awards for its models . 29 for 2008 mercedes benz s initial quality rating improved by yet another mark to fourth place . 30 on top of this accolade it also received the platinum plant quality award for its mercedes sindelfingen germany assembly plant . 30 j. d. power s 2011 us initial quality and vehicle dependability studies both ranked mercedes benz vehicles above average in build quality and reliability . 31 32 in the 2011 uk j. d. power survey mercedes cars were rated above average . 33 a 2014 iseecars.com study for reuters found mercedes to have the lowest vehicle recall rate . 34 models edit see also list of mercedes benz vehicles mercedes benz a class compact mercedes benz b class tourer mercedes benz c class d segment mercedes benz e class executive car mercedes benz s class luxury sedan mercedes benz sl class grand tourer mercedes benz sls amg supercar mercedes benz glc class suv mercedes benz gle class luxury suv current model range edit mercedes benz offers a full range of passenger light commercial and heavy commercial equipment . vehicles are manufactured in multiple countries worldwide . the smart marque of city cars are also produced by daimler ag . a class hatchback b class multi purpose vehicle mpv c class saloon estate coup and cabriolet cla class 4 door coup and estate cls class 4 door coup and estate e class saloon estate coup and cabriolet g class sports utility vehicle suv gla class compact sports utility vehicle suv crossover glc class sports utility vehicle suv gle class sports utility vehicle suv gls class large sports utility vehicle suv s class luxury saloon coup & cabriolet sl class grand tourer slc class roadster v class multi purpose vehicle mpv van amg gt sports car supercar vans edit mercedes benz sprinter mercedes benz produces a range of vans ; citan a rebadged version of the renault kangoo vito and sprinter . trucks edit see also list of mercedes benz trucks mercedes benz zetros used for snowplowing unimog a famous allround vehicle by mercedes benz mercedes benz trucks is now part of the daimler trucks division and includes companies that were part of the daimlerchrysler merger . gottlieb daimler sold the world s first truck in 1886 . 35 the first factory to be built outside germany after wwii was in argentina . it originally built trucks many of which were modified independently to buses popularly named colectivo . today it builds buses trucks and the sprinter van . citation needed buses edit main article mercedes benz buses mercedes benz produces a wide range of buses and coaches mainly for europe and asia . the first model was produced by karl benz in 1895 . significant models produced edit 1928 ssk racing car 1930 770 gro er mercedes state and ceremonial car 1934 500 k 1936 260 d world s first diesel production car 1936 170 1938 w195 speed record breaker 1939 320a a military vehicle 1951 300 known as the adenauer mercedes 1953 ponton models 1954 300sl gullwing 1956 190sl 1959 fintail models 1960 220se cabriolet 1963 600 grand mercedes 1963 230sl pagoda 1965 s class 1966 300sel 6.3 1968 w114 new generation compact cars 1969 c111 experimental vehicle 1972 w107 350sl 1974 450sel 6.9 1977 w123 mercedes first station wagon 1978 300sd mercedes first turbo diesel 1979 500sel and