Mercedes-Benz calls itself ‘the oldest car manufacturer in the world’. Formed by the merger of two formative German car brands in 1926, it continues to sell a huge number and variety of vehicles to this day.
In This Article:
- Who Makes Mercedes-Benz Cars?
- What Sort of Vehicles Does Mercedes-Benz Make?
- Detailed Mercedes-Benz Buying Guides
- What Are The Best Mercedes-Benz Cars?
Who Makes Mercedes-Benz Cars?
Mercedes-Benz has been one of the major players in the car industry for nearly 100 years and its history stretches back beyond that. It was created as the result of a merger between Benz and Cie. and Daimler Motors Corporation – both creators of some of the earliest cars ever built – in 1926. The company was known until 1998 as Daimler-Benz and then, as the result of a merger with Chrysler, as DaimlerChrysler from 1998 to 2007. After Chrysler was sold off the name reverted to Daimler in 2007, before being changed to Mercedes-Benz Group in 2022. Throughout that time, Mercedes-Benz vehicles have been the lifeblood of the business and the company has forged a rich heritage in various forms of motorsport.
The Smart car brand – formed in 1994 – is a subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz; initially as a joint venture with watch company Swatch, then wholly owned by Mercedes-Benz from 1998 to 2019. Since 2019 Smart has been a joint venture with Chinese carmaker Geely. Mercedes-Benz had a controlling interest in German tuning brand AMG from 1999 to 2005, when it became the sole owner of the company. A strategic cooperation between Mercedes, Nissan and Renault resulted in a number of vehicles with shared technology between 2010 and 2021, while more recently Mercedes-Benz has invested in Chinese carmaker BAIC Motor and the British brand Aston Martin, which uses Mercedes-Benz engines for some of its models.
