Quality rankings

Since its inception, Mercedes-Benz had maintained a reputation for its quality and durability. Objective measures looking at passenger vehicles, such as J. D. Power surveys, demonstrated a downturn in reputation in these criteria in the late 1990s and early 2000s. By mid-2005, Mercedes temporarily returned to the industry average for initial quality, a measure of problems after the first 90 days of ownership, according to J. D. Power. In J. D. Power's Initial Quality Study for the first quarter of 2007, Mercedes showed dramatic improvement by climbing from 25th to 5th place and earning several awards for its models. For 2008, Mercedes-Benz's initial quality rating improved by yet another mark, to fourth place.

 On top of this accolade, it also received the Platinum Plant Quality Award for its Mercedes’ Sindelfingen, Germany assembly plant. J. D. Power's 2011 US Initial Quality and Vehicle Dependability Studies both ranked Mercedes-Benz vehicles above average in build quality and reliability. In the 2011 UK J. D. Power Survey, Mercedes cars rated above average. A 2014 iSeeCars.com study for Reuters found Mercedes to have the lowest vehicle recall rate.

Production

Factories
Besides its native Germany, Mercedes-Benz vehicles are also manufactured or assembled in:

Sovereign State Continent Note
Argentina South America Manufactures buses, trucks and the Sprinter van. This is the first Mercedes-Benz factory outside of Germany. Built in 1951.
Austria Europe G-Class
Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe
Brazil South America Manufactures trucks and buses. Established in 1956. The A-Class (W168) was produced from 1999 to 2005 and the C-Class was produced until 2010 as well.
Canada North America

China Asia
Egypt Africa / Asia Via Egyptian German Automotive Company
Finland Europe New A-series (W176) is manufactured in Uusikaupunki since late 2013, being the first M-B passenger car ever built in that country
Hungary Europe
Jordan Africa Buses company factory, Elba House, Amman.
India Asia Bangalore (R&D). (Pune). Chennai (Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd.) - Trucks & Engine Manufacturing unit.
Indonesia Asia / Australia
Iran Asia Not since 2010
Malaysia Asia Assembly of C, E and S class vehicles by the DRB-Hicom
Mexico North America Mercedes-Benz Mexico fully manufactures some Mercedes and Daimler vehicles completely from locally built parts (C-Class, E-Class, M-Class, International trucks, Axor, Atego, and Mercedes Buses), manufactures other models in complete knock down kits (CL-Class, CLK-Class, SL-Class, SLK-Class) and manufactures a select number of models in semi knockdown kits which use both imported components and locally sourced Mexican components (S-Class, CLS-Class, R-Class, GL-Class, Sprinter).

Nigeria Africa Assembly of buses, trucks, utility motors and the Sprinter van
Philippines Asia
Russia Eurasia Joint venture Mercedes-Benz Car Trucks Vostok in Naberezhnye Chelny (jointly Kamaz). Available in trucks Actros, Axor, multi-purpose auto four wheel drive medium trucks Unimog.
Spain Europe Factory at Vitoria-Gasteiz Mercedes-Benz Vito, Viano and V-Class have been built there.
South Africa Africa
South Korea Asia Mercedes-Benz Musso and MB100 models manufactured by SsangYong Motor Company.
Thailand Asia Assembly of C, E and S class vehicles by the Thonburi Group
Turkey Eurasia Mercedes-Benz Türk A.Ş.
United Kingdom Europe The SLR sports car was built at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking. Brackley, Northamptonshire, is home to the Mercedes Grand Prix factory, and Brixworth, Northamptonshire is the location of Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines

United States North America The Mercedes-Benz M-Class Sport Utility, the R-Class Sport Tourer, and the full-sized GL-Class Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle are all built at the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International production facility near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Trucks (6,000 per year in the late seventies) were once assembled in Hampton, VA.
Vietnam Asia Assembly of E-Class, C-Class, S-Class, GLK-Class and Sprinter. Established in 1995.

Subsidiaries and alliances

As part of the Daimler AG company, the Mercedes-Benz Cars division includes Mercedes-Benz and Smart car production.

Mercedes-AMG
Mercedes-AMG became a majority owned division of Mercedes-Benz in 1999. The company was integrated into DaimlerChrysler in 1999, and became Mercedes-Benz AMG beginning on 1 January 1999.

McLaren Mercedes
Between 2003 and 2009, Mercedes-Benz produced a limited-production sports car with McLaren Cars. The resulting Mclaren Mercedes SLR was an extension of the collaboration in which Mercedes engines are used by the Team McLaren-Mercedes Formula One racing team, which was then part owned by Mercedes. The partnership with McLaren ended following the decision to market McLaren road cars.

Maybach
Daimler's ultra-luxury brand Maybach was under Mercedes-Benz cars division until 2013, when the production stopped due to poor sales volumes.

History

Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Karl Benz's creation of the first petrol-powered car, the Benz Patent Motorwagen, financed by Bertha Benz and patented in January 1886, and Gottlieb Daimler and engineer Wilhelm Maybach's conversion of a stagecoach by the addition of a petrol engine later that year. The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft. The first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz's and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company. Throughout the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz produced the 770 model, a car that was popular during Germany's Nazi period.

 Adolf Hitler was known to have driven these cars during his time in power, with bulletproof windshields. Most of the surviving models have been sold at auctions to private buyers. One of them is currently on display at the War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario. Mercedes-Benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations that later became common in other vehicles. Mercedes-Benz is one of the best known and established automotive brands in the world, and is also one of the world's oldest automotive brand still in existence today in 2014, having produced the first petrol-powered car.

For information relating to the famous three-pointed star, see under the title Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft including the merger into Daimler-Benz.

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz (German pronunciation: [mɛʁˈt͡seːdəs ˈbɛnt͡s]) is a German automobile manufacturer, a multinational division of the German manufacturer Daimler AG. The brand is used for luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. The headquarters of Mercedes-Benz is in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The name first appeared in 1926 under Daimler-Benz but traces its origins to Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft's 1901 Mercedes and to Karl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen, which is widely regarded as the first automobile. Mercedes-Benz's slogan is "Das Beste oder nichts" (English: "The best or nothing"). Mercedes-Benz is part of the "German Big 3" luxury automakers, along with Audi and BMW, which are the best selling luxury automakers in the world.