The Mercedes Star

Mercedes Star Logo story

 Mercedes-Benz is a global automaker that's part of the Daimler AG company. They are based in Stuttgart, Germany, and are known for producing some of the world's most recognized luxury cars, SUVs, coaches, and buses.

Their origins go back to the late 1880s with the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. It's regarded to be the first gasoline-powered vehicle. The company distributes automobiles worldwide and currently uses the slogan, "the best or nothing." You'll see their brand on the streets and the race track, excelling at all they do. In 2018, they were listed as #13 on Forbes World's Most Valuable Brands list as well as #16 of the World's Most Powerful Brands.

Mercedes-Benz began with the creation of Karl Benz's first petrol-powered vehicle. The Benz Patent Motorwagen was financed by Bertha Benz with a patent in 1886. Later that year, Wilheim Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler converted a stagecoach with a petrol engine. Their first automobile was sent to market in 1901 as part of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, otherwise known as Daimler Motors Corporation.

In 1902, Emil Jellinek, an entrepreneur from Austria, worked with the group and created their trademark. They named the company's 1901 Mercedes after his daughter, Mercedes Jellinek. He was a high-class businessman who promoted the Daimler line of automobiles among his circle. He even began selling in America to billionaires such as Astor, Rockefeller, Taylor, and Morgan.

The first branded vehicles of Mercedes-Benz origin began production in 1926. This occurred right after the merger of Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz's companies.

During the 1930s, the company produced the popular 770 models. Adolf Hitler was even known to drive these during his time as the leader. The only difference was that he had bulletproof windshields. He isn't the only famous leader that drove Mercedes cars. The Popemobile is often a Mercedes brand as well. The majority of surviving models of the 770 have been sold off to private buyers through auctions. One of the remaining models is on display in Ottawa, Ontario at the War Museum.

During the war in 1944, Daimler-Benz factories forced 46,000 laborers to increase the war efforts by the Nazis. Later, the company paid out $12 to the families of those workers. As the years went on, Mercedes introduced many safety and technological innovations that have become popular in other brands as well. Today, they are known as one of the most established automakers in the world.

The company's logo stands for air, land, and water, but the company considered adding a fourth point which represented space. They never followed through on their plans.