 | |
| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1890 |
| Founder | Gottlieb Daimler Wilhelm Maybach |
| Defunct | 1926; 99 years ago (1926) |
| Fate | Merged withBenz & Cie |
| Successor | Daimler-Benz (1926) |
| Headquarters | Cannstatt,Stuttgart, Germany |
| Products | Automobiles |
| Brands | Mercedes |
Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (abbreviated asDMG, also known as Daimler Motors Corporation) was a German engineering company and laterautomobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded byGottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) andWilhelm Maybach (1846–1929), it was based first in Cannstatt (today Bad Cannstatt, a city district ofStuttgart). Daimler died in 1900, and their business moved in 1903 to Stuttgart-Untertürkheim after the original factory was destroyed by fire, and again to Berlin in 1922. Other factories were located inMarienfelde (near Berlin) andSindelfingen (next toStuttgart).
The enterprise began to produce petrol engines but after the success of a small number of race cars built on contract by Wilhelm Maybach forEmil Jellinek, it began to produce theMercedes model of 1902. After this automobile production expanded to become DMG's main product, and it built several models.
Because of the post World War One German economic crisis, in 1926 DMG merged withBenz & Cie., becomingDaimler-Benz and adoptingMercedes-Benz as its automobile trademark. A further merger occurred in 1998 withChrysler Corporation to become DaimlerChrysler. The name was changed again to justDaimler AG in 2007 when Chrysler was sold. Most recently in 2022, the name was changed once more to theMercedes-Benz Group.
By 1882 both Daimler and Maybach had leftNikolaus Otto'sDeutz AG Gasmotorenfabrik. In 1890 they founded their own engine business,Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG). Its purpose was the construction of small, high speed engines they had developed based on the samestationary engine technology.
DMG thus grew out of an extension of the independent businesses of Daimler and Maybach, who would revolutionize the world with their inventions for the automobile of afour-stroke petrol engine,carburetor, and so on. They would manufacture small internal combustion engines suitable for use on land, sea, and in the air (the basis for a symbol Daimler devised of a three pointed star, with each point indicating a different way).
On 5 July 1887 Daimler purchased a property in Seelberg Hill (Cannstatt) previously owned by Zeitler & Missel who had used it as a precious metal foundry. The site covered 2,903 square meters, cost 30,200Goldmark, and from it they produced engines for their successfulNeckar motorboat. They also sold licences for others to make their engine products and Seelberg became a centre of the rapidly growing automobile industry.
Daimler ran into financial problems because sales were not high enough and the licences didn't yield significant profit. An agreement was reached with industrialistsMax Von Duttenhofer andWilhelm Lorenz [de], both of whom were also munitions manufacturers, along with the influential bankerKilian von Steiner, who owned an investment bank, to convert the private business to a public corporation in 1890. (This agreement is regarded by some historians as a "devil's pact",[1] as the inventors never got along with the new status.)
Not really believing in automobile production the financiers expanded the stationary engine business, as they were selling well, and even considered a merger with Otto'sDeutz-AG. (During 1882, Gottflieb Daimler had serious personal problems with Nicholas Otto, when Daimler and Maybach worked for Otto.) Daimler and Maybach continued to advocate car manufacturing and as a result even leftDMG for a short period.Daimler's friend, Frederick Simms, persuaded the financiers to take Gottflieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach back into falteringDMG in early 1896. Their business was re-merged withDMG's. Daimler was appointed General Inspector, Maybach chief Technical Director and Simms a director ofDMG.[2]
In 1892, Maybach designed thePhönix, an inline two-cylinder engine fitted with a newcarburetor.[3] Following the withdrawal of Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach to their own business to concentrate on cars,[2] the enterprise had been close to a crisis but stabilised itself, selling mobile and stationary engines through a number of retailers around the world, from New York City to Moscow.
The first Daimler car, a singularly inelegant model, appeared in 1892,[4] followed in 1895 by a two-cylindervis á vis and, in 1897, DMG's first front-engined model, aPhönix-engined four-seat open tourer.[5]
In 1900, Gottlieb Daimler died. LaterDMG's successfulMercedes models based upon race cars designed by Wilhelm Maybach to the specifications of Emil Jellinek (who wanted a more modern and safer car, following the death ofWillhelm Bauer in a Daimler racer)[6] changed the board's outlook in favour of the automobile. Maybach continued as designer for a while, but quit in 1907 and was replaced by Gottlieb's son,Paul.
DMG's automobile sales took off, particularly with the first Daimler-Mercedes engine designed by Maybach placed into several race cars of 1900 built for Emil Jellinek. That race car was later referred to as theMercedes 35 hp. Production capacity was extended to Untertürkheim. In 1902,DMG produce the first Mercedes models, led by the60, the most famous early model, and officially adopted Mercedes as its automobile trademark; capable of 120 km/h (75 mph), the 60 combinedtouring and racing capacity, and was the top-status car to own (or for other makers, among themBerliet,Rochet-Schneier,Martini,Ariel,Star andFIAT, to copy; in the U.S.,Daimler Manufacturing Company {Long Island City, New York} may have built one under licence in association withSteinway).[7] In part due to the model 60's success, the number ofDMG employees went from 821 (1903) to 2,200 (1904).
1906 to 1913 were further expansion years, with the creation of new capacity reducing the number of external suppliers. Increased mechanization took the annual productivity from 0.7 cars per worker, to 10. In 1911, shares ofDMG were listed on theStuttgart stock exchange.
On 2 October 1902DMG opened a new works in the mountainous region to the south of Berlin. Its scope was initially limited to motorboat and marine engines. Later, it expanded into making trucks (1905) and fire trucks (1907). The region became a centre of the automobile industry, and other businesses moved in.
Untertürkheim was an ideal location to site a large factory as it was close to both theNeckar river and theStuttgart–Ulm railway. The local MayorEduard Fiechtner sold the land (185,000 square meters) at a low price and also arranged for a railroad extension with its own station and energy from the Neckar's hydro-electric plant which had been built in 1900.
DMG had planned to open the facility in 1905 but the total destruction of Cannstatt's factory by fire in 1903 hastened the work and the newArt-Nouveau building, with ajagged-roof, was brought forward to start production in December 1903. The work force continued to grow.
On 17 May 1904 Unterturkheim becameDMG's headquarters with the rest of the administration staff moving in on 29 May. In 1913, an additional 220,000 square meters were acquired and between 1915 and 1918 it was extended further. By the 1920s, Untertürkheim had almost all the production processes on one site fromfoundries to final car assembly. In 1925 theDMG design department also moved in.
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On the night of 10 June 1903 the original Seelberg-Cannstatt plant suffered a great fire. All the machinery and 93 finishedMercedes cars, a quarter of the annual production, were destroyed, together with a small museum with historical items like Daimler-Maybach's first ever motorcycle, theReitwagen.
Later that night a man broke into the factory and stole half the cars. He painted the words "Joe who?" on the side of them.
The displaced workers receivedhaven-salaries and additional bread rations. Neighboring businesses lent workshops, allowing production to continue.DMG created aRelief Fund (one of the first worker insurance schemes) and began building separator blocks in all its plants.
The following year, 1904, the whole operation moved to Untertürkheim. The last unit produced in Seelberg rolled out in the first weeks of 1905.
At the outbreak of the First World War, in 1914, there was a rush to produce war supplies. In the autumn of 1915,DMG opened the Sindelfingen factory formilitary vehicles, aircraft engines, and even entireaircraft. After the war, limited by theVersailles Treaty, it produced only automobile bodies.
The production ofmotorboats by Daimler and Maybach began early, in 1886, with theNeckar (4.5 meters long with a speed of 11 km/h (6 knots)), the first in the world, and tested on the local Neckar river. That boat becameDMG's first commercial hit, helped by the poor state of Germany's roads. Once the public corporation was formed, motorboat production became one of the new financiers' main interests and lead in 1902 to the building of theBerlin-Marienfelde factory specifically for their manufacture.
Daimler had sold automobile-engine licences all over the world including to France, Austria, the UK, and the United States through an agreement with the piano-makerSteinway, in New York.
The firstDMG automobile sale took place in August 1892 (its registration still survives) to the Sultan of Morocco.
Commercial vehicles had also been made mainly using aPhoenix engine, but up to 1900, when Daimler died, the bodies had not been standardised.
In 1902, theMercedes car was built, compact and modern, with many improved features, a move which sparked the board's interest in automobile production.Mercedes then becameDMG's main car brand name. There were some small exceptions: theMercedes Simplex of 1902–1909, (the name indicating it being "easy to drive") and theMercedes Knight of 1910–1924, featuring Coventry Daimler's development ofCharles Yale Knight'ssleeve-valve engine. All models were priced by their hp-rating.
The first truck, of 1.5 tons payload, was sold to London'sBritish Motor Syndicate Ltd on 1 October 1896. Its rear-mountedPhoenix engine produced 4 hp (3 kW) at 700 rpm.
In 1897, the production oflight commercial vehicles began. At that time they were popularly calledbusiness vehicles, and were very successful in the United Kingdom.
At the firstParis Motor Show, in 1898, a 5-ton truck was displayed, with a front-mounted engine.
In 1894, while working from temporary premises in the unusedHermann Hotel in Cannstatt, Gottlieb Daimler, his son Paul, and Wilhelm Maybach designed thePhoenix engine. It amazed the automobile world with:
Production of this engine which was put into cars, trucks, and boats becameDMG's main product until theMercedes car of 1902.
In 1902, an automobile that would later be called theMercedes 35 hp was created by Maybach to the order of the successful Austrian merchant Emil Jellinek who became fascinated by both thePhoenix engine and race cars. The name was derived from an engine Maybach built to the specifications of Jellinek in 1900 that could achieve 35 hp (26 kW). Jellinek had stipulated that the engine be called Daimler-Mercedes and when it was successful, he stipulated a new model in an edition of vehicles that he would market and use personally. Later this was referred to as the Mercedes 35 hp (26 kW) model. It was never marketed by DMG until its success was seen to be substantial.
Jellinek competed as a driver, painting"Mercedes" (Spanish forgodsend), on the automobiles he raced after his 10-year-old daughter. Jellinek's pursuit of higher speed brought him to Stuttgart personally, toWilhelm Maybach's office where he also met withPaul Daimler, son of Gottlieb. Together they designed a new kind of automobile that would be "larger, wider, and with a lower center of gravity". A small number would be produced for Jellinek under contract. This was the first true automobile designed byDMG, as opposed to a coach with an engine fitted into it.
Blending the technical refinements of Maybach's new 4-cylinder engine, with a new chassis the automobile stunned themotorsport world of 1901. Jellinek had promised to purchase a large number of the race cars, (36 units for 550,000Goldmark), if he could also be the sole concessionaire in Austria-Hungary, France, Belgium, and the US, using the nameDaimler-Mercedes for the engine, and also become a member of the Board of Management.
In June 1902, afterDMG realized that they had already conceded theirDaimler trademark toPanhard & Levassor for the whole of France, they decided to name all their carsMercedes after the engine and began to produce theMercedes series. The great demand for the car soon hadDMG operating at full-capacity.
In these early years, car races were used as advertising for their makers. Therefore, bothDMG andBenz & Cie., their great rival, put the best of their cars on the track.Daimler cars were able to beatBenz until 1908, when a Benz achieved theland speed record, but in the following years, both brands were equal.
DMG expanded with a subsidiary company in Austria
Edouard Sarazin began early negotiations to license Gottlieb Daimler's engines in France. After his death, his wife finally succeeded, helped byÉmile Levassor andRené Panhard (then a timber-machinery manufacturers) selling their first engine in 1887.
Armand Peugeot, one of their clients, began fitting vehicles withPanhard & Levassor engines, and acquiredDaimler's licence from them. Peugeot focused, successfully, on the German market.
Panhard & Levassor designed a complete automobile. Levassor mounted an engine (Daimler's) over the front axle, giving better balance and turning. Marketed in October 1891, it featured rear wheel drive by two side chains, pedal clutch, front radiator, and steering by lever.
Historians consider that the automobile was"a German invention, while France expanded it commercially", mainly by publicity from car-racing since in January 1886Karl Benz was granted the first patent for an automobile he designed and built in 1885.
In 1888, Gottlieb Daimler established a cooperation with the German-born piano makerWilliam Steinway in Astoria, Queens, later New York City, to build stationary and marine engines for gas and petroleum, and later on, in 1892, also to build cars as full copies of the German design. The engines and cars were produced in Steinway's premises at the "Rikers plant" oppositeRikers Island which was in use for piano production until nowadays[vague]. This business was sold after William Steinway died in 1896.
In 1890 Hamburg-bornFrederick Simms, a consulting engineer and a good personal friend of Gottlieb Daimler returned to the United Kingdom with thePhoenix engine for launches (though expressing thoughts for cars) having obtained from him British (and British Empire) rights to the Daimler patents. In 1893 Simms formedThe Daimler Motor Syndicate Limited (DMS).[2]
At the end of 1895 Simms received an offer from a London company promoter calledLawson of, at first, £35,000 to purchase all the Daimler rights. As part of the necessary arrangements, Maybach and Daimler having parted fromDMG, Simms arranged to pay the now driftingDMG £17,100 on the condition thatDMG took back Gottlieb Daimler. A 'contract of reassociation' was signed on 1 November 1895. The result was the divided Daimler-Maybach andDMG businesses then merged and were rejuvenated. In early 1896, having agreed withDaimler Motor Syndicate it would buy the Daimler rights,Lawson floatedThe Daimler Motor Company Limited (DMC) in London (with Gottlieb Daimler a director), the factory to be in a disused cotton mill inCoventry. Simms became a director ofDMG (Cannstatt) but not DMC (London).[2]
In 1910 Daimler Motor Company while retaining a separate identity, merged ownership with that ofBSA (munitions), and began producing military vehicles. It also dropped the word motor from its name.[2]
For over 65 years, The Daimler Company Limited produced a wide variety of premium quality vehicles including buses, ambulances, fire engines and some trucks but in particular medium-sized and large cars which were often very expensive. Their vehicles were distinguished by their finned exposed radiators, later by scalloped radiator shells.[citation needed] Until the early 1950s it was often said "the aristocracy buy Daimlers, the nouveau riche buy Rolls-Royce".[2]
In 1960 the business was sold toJaguar, which soon engaged inbadge-engineering and often Jaguar and Daimler cars could only be distinguished by the grille and name badge. In 2005 the only Daimler models being produced were luxury models, such as theDaimler Super Eight.
The Daimler name moved with Jaguar intoBritish Leyland, back to an independent Jaguar, and then into Ford. In July 2008 Tata Group, the current owners of Jaguar and Daimler, announced they were considering transforming Daimler into "a super-luxury marque to compete directly with Bentley and Rolls-Royce".[8] An application to register the Daimler name by Jaguar as a trademark in the US was rejected in 2009.[9]
Daimler built the engine for the firstairship fuelled by petrol in 1888. From 1899 to 1907DMG provided Maybach designed engines toZeppelin.Wilhelm Maybach quitDMG in 1909. After 1909 Maybach and his son Karl founded their own enterprise inWürttemberg and took over supplying the engines.
During theFirst World War, from 1915 theSindelfingen factory produced large numbers of winged aircraft and aircraft engines. Production was prohibited after the conflict under conditions laid down by theTreaty of Versailles.
In the 1870s, while working for Otto at Deutz AG Gasmotorenfabrik inCologne, Daimler sent his wifeEmma Kunz a postcard, marking his residence with athree-pointed star and writing:"one day this star will shine over our triumphant factories". Since then, this line has inspired both Daimler and Maybach when developing light and powerful engines for"land, water, and air".
In the 1900s, after theMercedes' success,DMG was still lacking a trademark. Paul and Adolf Daimler, the sons of Gottlieb (who had died in early March 1900), suggested using that symbol. Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft's board accepted the proposal in June 1909, also registering afour-pointed one. The four-pointed star became the emblem ofDeutsche Aerospace AG (DASA) in the 1980s and then the logo of theEuropean Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).
Thethree-pointed star debuted in 1910. In 1916, it was surrounded by a circle with four additional stars, with either the nameMercedes or of the respective factory (Untertürkheim orBerlin-Marienfelde). In 1937, the familiar symbol was registered by Daimler-Benz, athree-dimensional three-pointed star, contained in a circle.
DMG was one of the most important German businesses at the time of theGerman crisis; tripling its capital to 100 million shares in 1920, and moving its headquarters to Berlin in 1922.
After the war the German automobile industry stagnated because of insufficient demand and because automobiles were taxed by the government as luxury items. The country also was hit by a petrol shortage.
In 1923,DMG production fell to 1,020 units, compared to Benz & Cie. making 1,382 inMannheim. The average cost of a car was 25 millionmarks. Strike action and inflation pushedDMG to the limit. To surviveDMG produced Mercedes bicycles and typewriters, and it even issued its own emergency money.
For the two separate businesses to survive the financial problems of the day, in 1919,Benz & Cie. proposed a merger, butDMG formally rejected it in December. Then, as the German crisis worsened, the struggling firms met again in 1924 and signed anAgreement of Mutual Interest, valid until the year 2000. They standardized design, production, purchasing, sales, and advertising—marketing their car models jointly—although keeping their respective brands.
On 28 June 1926DMG andBenz & Cie. merged intoDaimler-Benz AG, establishing its headquarters in the Untertürkheim factory.
Unable to use Daimler on all their products their automobiles were brandedMercedes Benz in honour ofDMG's most successful car model and the last name ofKarl Benz. Its new trademark consisted of athree-pointed star surrounded by the traditional laurels of Karl Benz's logo and labelledMercedes Benz. The next year, 1927, the number of units sold tripled to 7,918, anddiesel truck production was launched.
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