Little did the young 11 year old girl know on 02nd April 1900 that she was going to become the darling of the world, the dream girl to several generations of men and women. Hardly did she know that people will swear by her name when it came to luxury and comfort; that her name would mean that a person had arrived. Neither did she know that her name would be linked to many a political leaders, Kings and business czars and that she would be a synonym to a rich, luxurious life.
The young girl I am talking about was Mercedes Jellinek. She was the daughter of the Austrian business man Emil Jellinek who was settled in Nice and dealt in Daimler vehicles. He registered these Daimler vehicles for races in France. On 02nd April 1900, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft decided to name their cars after Mercedes Jellinek. Thus was born the Mercedes brand which has gone on to become one of the most trusted brands in cars. The first car under this name was the Mercedes 35 HP. When introduced in 1901, this car caused a sensation during the Nice race week in March 1901. The car was not only elegantly designed, but was extremely reliable and powerful, allowing it to win several races during the week. The Mercedes 35 HP is considered by several as the prototype of the modern automobile and its architecture and layout decided what a car would look like across the automobile industry.
The name was registered as a Trade Mark on 23rd June 1902 and was legally protected on 26th September the same year. Once Daimler and Benz companies merged in 1926, the cars were renamed as Mercedes-Benz, the name which makes any one starry eyed. The three pointed star is one of the most coveted badges on the bonnet of a car.
In fact Mercedes inform that it is the only car in the world with a female name. People may say, we in India had the Padmini, but it was actually Premier Padmini, so the brand name was not female. Since 2016, Mercedes-Benz has consistently been the world’s most valuable luxury automobile brand and is the only European brand among the top 10 in the “Best Global Brands 2019” ranking by Interbrand, the renowned U.S. brand consulting company.
The Transport Journal 