Mercedes-Benz’s reputation as a top luxury brand goes back well over 100 years, but that doesn’t mean its future is set in stone. Regardless of any present growing pains, you can’t tell the story of the motor vehicle without discussing Benz. Not only were the brand’s forefathers responsible for what may be the world’s first commercial vehicle, but the most expensive vehicle ever sold, a €135 million 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, also wears the M-B three-pointed star.
It was in 1886 …
Mercedes-Benz’s reputation as a top luxury brand goes back well over 100 years, but that doesn’t mean its future is set in stone. Regardless of any present growing pains, you can’t tell the story of the motor vehicle without discussing Benz. Not only were the brand’s forefathers responsible for what may be the world’s first commercial vehicle, but the most expensive vehicle ever sold, a €135 million 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, also wears the M-B three-pointed star.
It was in 1886 that Karl Friedrich Benz filed the patent for his three-wheeled gasoline-powered automobile and then joined forces with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach who had also just finished a four-wheeled internal combustion stagecoach. Those engines were so ahead of their time, that at the 1894 126-km, Paris to Rouen “Horseless Carriage Contest” that included battery powered vehicles, steam vehicles, and gas vehicles, nine of the 17 carriages to cross the finish line, including the first four, were running Daimler engines. A few years later, now united under a company name that would evolve to become Daimler AG, the group put forth the 1901 Mercedes 35hp, selling it to the world’s elite — including the Rothschild and Rockafeller families — thus positioning the Mercedes name as a luxury brand since the beginning.
The first vehicles to wear the Mercedes-Benz brand were produced in 1926, a few years before the inception of the 770 model, a vehicle that was infamously driven by Adolf Hitler during WWII. Another 770 model is currently on display at Ottawa’s War Museum. Being an automotive manufacturer in Germany in those days meant ‘volunteering’ to produce war machines, and for a while Mercedes was dedicated to making airplane engines and other military products. It is estimated that the company used between 30,000 to 45,000 forced labourers during the years surrounding WWII, an atrocity for which it later paid US$12 million to victims’ families.
Whereas BMW has hooked its cart to ‘sport’ over the last 80-odd years of peacetime production, Benz has continued to bank heavily on ‘luxury.' That’s not to say it also doesn’t have a rich racing heritage and active presence in motorsport series around the world, including in Formula 1 where world-famous racer Lewis Hamilton competes under the Mercedes-AMG Petronas banner as the first black driver in F1 history. You might call it a comeback, considering Mercedes’ 34-year break from all racing following the 1955 Le Mans disaster that saw a 300 SLR crash into the crowds, killing 84 people including a driver.
AMG — short for “Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach” and named after its founders and place of origin — was once an independent performance parts provider for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, but in 1999 became a subsidiary of the company. AMG models are given visual and performance upgrades and are usually priced and outfitted above the top trim. Similarly, having a “Maybach” hyphenated onto a Mercedes model earns it a host of exclusive luxury features.
Commercial vehicles are another part of Mercedes-Benz’ portfolio, and have been for some time. As recently as 2019, however, Daimler AG separated, taking the company’s commercial trucks and buses with it and leaving the luxury and performance consumer vehicles under the Mercedes-Benz name. Benz also holds a 50 per cent stake in Smart Automobile. Smart vehicles are no longer sold in Canada, but the brand continues to service them.
Production of Mercedes-Benz’ vehicles and parts happens in plants in 22 countries around the world, including at a fuel cell plant in Burnaby, British Columbia, but remains centred around HQ in Stuttgart, Germany. The current lineup of production Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Canada includes 15 cars, 11 SUVs, and just three EVs. The most popular by sales numbers is the GLC SUV, which sold 8,661 units in Canada in 2022.
Cars are built around five core models — the A-Class, B-Class, C-Class, E-Class, and S-Class — and also include CL, CLA, and SL models. At $240,400, the tech- and luxury-packed Maybach S Class is the most expensive and arguably most impressive item on the menu. The brand’s growing lineup of SUVs includes the GLA, GLB, GLC, GLE, GLS, and G-Class (G-Wagen). The EQ electric vehicle fleet is less robust, including just the EQS SUV, EQB SUV, and EQS Sedan, all relatively recent market entries.
Despite this relatively slow transition into the BEV sector, Mercedes is aiming for half of its sales to be of electric models by 2025, and all of them (with some market exceptions) by 2030.
Score
