Have you ever wondered why anybody would have the name Mercedes? Have you wondered why Mercedes-Benz is called Mercedes-Benz? The companies origins are traced back to the 2 great German pioneers of automobile and motoring, Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz. It seems odd the company would be called Mercedes-Benz!
I was watching a PBS show called Great Cars the other day and found out the answer to most of these questions. An Austrian businessman by the name of Emil Jellinek bought 36 cars from Gottlieb Daimler. During the time 36 cars was a quite a large order. Jellinek made a very important demand…. that the cars be named after his daughter… Mercedes.
Emil Jellinek wasn't just a customer, he also sold Mercedes cars, was a member of the Daimler company board, and raced the cars he bought. The racing success from many of the “Mercedes” cars is what help them become famous.
These new Mercedes models were very modern, lower, better designed, faster, and handled better than previous Daimler cars. They were actually called “The Car of the Day After Tomorrow!” People loved them so much it was obvious that the cars should keep the name “Mercedes!” As a succession of newer cars were sold, they retained the name. From 1902 onward any cars that were built by the Daimler company had “Mercedes” on them.
Why wasn't Daimler upset about this? He died in 1900. Daimler and Benz never actually meet. The 2 companies started a relationship in 1924, due to the horrendous economy and difficulty to sell cars at the time. In 1926 they officially merged creating the Daimler-Benz company. However…. the cars were named Mercedes-Benz.
Interesting one demand made a name world famous!