Mercedes Benz Brand Evolution and History

Mercedes-Benz is a multinational division of the German manufacturer Daimler AG, and the brand is used for luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany Mercedes-Benz has been making buses since 1895 in Mannheim in Germany. Since 1995, the brand of Mercedes-Benz buses and coaches is under the umbrella of EvoBus GmbH, belonging 100% to the Daimler AG. The German luxury car-manufacturer has been around for more than a century, having elegantly drifted the both smooth and rough curves of automobile history. Responsible for the modern internal combustion engine's genesis, the ‘fathers' of the Mercedes-Benz brand practically invented the automobile. Many years ago when mahogany canes and high-top hats were the ultimate fashion and social prominence statements, two men by the names of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler were busy freeing the world from horse-powered transportation. The 1886 archetype of the modern engine, their device was not a result of team-work but of independent and synchronous research and development. Although both lived in Southern Germany, they never actually met if historical accounts are to be believed. Despite the equal share of the two engineer's contribution to the development of the four-stroke petrol engine, it was Gottlieb Daimler who garnered more attention that would eventually lead to world-spread fame. Following Daimler's successful results in racing, a wealthy Austrian business man by the name of Emil Jellinek became interested in the Unterturkheim-built cars. Daimler and his chief-engineer, Wilhelm Maybach's work had pleased Jellinek to the extent of him approaching the two with a business proposal: a large number of cars would be ordered in exchange to a name change from Daimler to Mercedes – Jellinek daughter's name – and the right to alter the car's designs as well as the right to resell the vehicles in some European countries, including Austria, France and Belgium. Despite having been widely criticized for alleged forced employment and violation of human rights during the Second World War, Mercedes – Benz have been successful at building an automotive empire, strongly supported by some of the company's far-from-average clients, such as state leaders, media moguls and ridiculously rich families. Mercedes – Benz have become known particularly for their limousines, most of which can be seen in most movies ever since the Lumiere brothers became famous for their ‘little' invention called cinematography. As if outstanding product quality and world fame weren't enough, the Mercedes – Benz team has also fathered tons of innovations, many of them targeting the simple four-cylinder engine. After marking a new era in mechanical supercharging technology, Mercedes went on to cross new borders through the release of new engineering concepts and ground breaking designs. The BlueTec system unveiled in 2005 was developed with only one though in mind: cutting CO2 emissions, achievement made possible through the use of SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction). Two other notable events occurred the same year with the release of the A 200 Turbo engine for the A-Klasse and the organic-looking Bionic concept. Market Shares of Mercedes on 07-2013 Betting big on the Indian automobile market, German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz is aiming for a double digit growth this year The company sold 7,138 units last year, Mercedes Benz India Director (Sales and Network development) Boris Fitz said. During the first quarter of this calendar year, the company sold 2,009 units, he said. However, he declined to reveal the number of units that Mercedes Benz has planned to sell in India. Stating that Mercedes Benz was â€Å"bullish† about the Indian market, he said the company was investing Rs 250 crore towards capacity expansion plans at its Pune plant. The company is doubling capacity from 10,000 units per year at present to 20,000 units per year. Mercedes Benz on Thursday introduced the diesel version on its compact hatchback B Class at Rs 22. 60 lakh ex-showroom Mumbai. Having already sold 500 units of B Class petrol since its launch nine months back, Mercedes Benz expects the diesel variant to outsell petrol variants in the coming months and lead the double digit growth in 2013, for the luxury carmaker. Eberhard Kern, MD & CEO, Mercedes Benz India told ET that despite the changing fuel price equation, the customers are still demanding diesel cars. â€Å"In our portfolio where diesel variant is available, it constitutes 80% of our total sales with petrol making up for 20% with the B Class too we are expecting the same. Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt Ltd (DICV) announces that Mercedes Benz' bus division will be integrated with it. Previously the bus business was handled by Mercedes Benz India Private Ltd (MBIL) located out of Pune. Daimler sees the Indian market as one with increasing potential. However, the Luxury Coach segment is still very small in comparison to the total market. While MB India has sold more than 300 buses since 2008, Volvo Buses sold 700 units in 2012 alone (Volvo entered the Indian bus market in 2001). DICV will now handle the marketing, sales & after-sales of Mercedes-Benz Buses. Servicing will be taken up by select dealers of BharatBenz. Initially only 7 dealers, along with 2 existing dealers who have been servicing MB buses, will handle the servicing requirements for these buses. Bus manufacture will continue at MB India's Pune factory for some more time. Eventually, manufacturing will shift to DICV’s manufacturing plant at Oragadam, near Chennai. Growth Rate The ingenious luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz reported witnessing a substantial rise in sales volume over the past quarter of 2012. The company was pleased to announce that there had been a massive 5. 3% growth in the sales. Mercedes with its growing reputation over the past few decades has made it one of the most powerful in the automobile industry. Taking into consideration the overall major drop in the Indian LCV automobile industry, this can be reported as huge success. Over the course of a few years, Mercedes has dazzled the imaginations of car lovers and enthusiasts by unveiling ingenious and exciting cars, ideas and concepts and rolled out some of most powerful four-wheeled machinery there is. Mercedes is a brand looked up to for its superiorly performing and luxurious cars. This may the cause of such a massive boost in the company’s sales. Mercedes Benz production plants all over the country have begun ramping up car production numbers for the expected profit from this substantial rise. Mercedes is planning to optimistically envisage double-digit growth numbers over the next six months. The German car manufacturer has enthusiastically developed several exciting designs to be rolled out this year and car enthusiasts are extremely interested in what they’re going to be. This enthusiasm may have been what sparked a healthy growth of over 5% in the past three months. The manufacturer believes it is capable of inducing much more growth in the company’s sales in some time and they would try to enhance the overall quality of products. They should be able to easily capture their expected double-digits growth rates. Mercedes seems to be very optimistic at this topic and expects to beat the industry by its uniqueness and ability to touch the very visions of enthusiasts around the world. The crowd expects even more from the company, and Mercedes has the type of people who won’t give up until they achieve the most of it. They’re building on towards a better future for the company as well as consumers of LCVs in the Indian market. CHAPTER 2 Founder profile Karl Friedrich Benz (help ·info) (November 25, 1844 – April 4, 1929) was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the petrol-powered automobile, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. Other German contemporaries, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach working as partners, also worked on similar types of inventions, without knowledge of the work of the other, but Benz patented his work first, and, subsequently patented all the processes that made the internal combustion enginefeasible for use in an automobile. In 1879, his first engine patent was granted to him, and in 1886, Benz was granted a patent for his first automobile. In 1871, at the age of twenty-seven, Karl Benz joined August Ritter in launching the Iron Foundry and Mechanical Workshop in Mannheim, later renamed Factory for Machines for Sheet-metal Working. The enterprise's first year went very badly. Ritter turned out to be unreliable, and the business's tools were impounded. The difficulty was overcome when Benz's fiancee, Bertha Ringer, bought out Ritter's share in the company using her dowry. On July 20, 1872, Karl Benz and Bertha Ringer married. They had five children: Eugen (1873), Richard (1874), Clara (1877), Thilde (1882), and Ellen (1890). Despite the business misfortunes, Karl Benz led in the development of new engines in the early factory he and his wife owned. To get more revenues, in 1878 he began to work on new patents. First, he concentrated all his efforts on creating a reliable petrol two-stroke engine. Benz finished his two-stroke engine on December 31, 1878, New Year's Eve, and was granted a patent for it in 1879. Karl Benz showed his real genius, however, through his successive inventions registered while designing what would become the production standard for his two-stroke engine. Benz soon patented the speed regulation system, the ignition using sparks with battery, the spark plug, the carburetor, the clutch, the gear shift, and the water radiator. Product Profile The world's first motorised bus was built in Germany by Karl Benz in 1895, some years before Gottlieb Daimler also started to build and sell buses in Germany as well. By 1898 both Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, then rivals, were exporting their buses to Wales and England. Soon Daimler products were sold in the British Empire in a partnership with the British company Milnes. Milnes-Daimler developed a double-decker in 1902 and provided a bus for the first motorised bus service in the United Kingdom the following year. Though the company met success in selling buses throughout the British Empire, the partnership between Daimler and Milnes had to be undone due to the First World War Due to economic hardships in the early 1900s, Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie. merged into one company in 1926, two years after both companies signed an agreement of mutual interest. Thus, Daimler-Benz AG (also known as Mercedes-Benz) was formed. In the next year, the company presented its first combined bus range. By that time emphasis was given to diesel engines (as opposed to petrol engines) for commercial vehicles. In 1951 Mercedes-Benz unveiled its first bus specifically designed for bus operation (and not derived from a lorry, as was the case of the other buses produced by the company until then) – the O6600 H. This 11-metre-long vehicle was equipped with a six-cylinder, transverse-mounted rear engine delivering 145 hp, a lower frame than its predecessors, and an electric gearshift system. In 1954 Mercedes-Benz unveiled its first semi-integral bus – the O321 H. The semi-integral design meant a reduction in weight, improvements in stability and body resistance. The O321 H also was the first to feature coil springs in the front-axle suspension. This 9. 2-metre-long vehicle (a 10. 9-metre version was later unveiled) also featured a rear-mounted engine. The first version was available with an output of 110 hp, and a later optional 126-hp version was made available. More than 30,000 units of the O321 H complete bus and its platform were sold around the world, a mark which places it as the best-selling bus of its time and, until today, one of the most successful models by Mercedes-Benz.