Carl Benz patented the first automobile 140 years ago. That car and patent were the first steps of building the company that bears his name today, Mercedes-Benz.
On January 29, the official anniversary date, automakers new and old from around the world posted congratulatory messages to the company, recognizing that without Benz’s invention, they would not be here today, including the company’s chief rival BMW.
The company is celebrating its anniversary by setting the course for its future, debuting a heavily revamped S-Class large car and reiterating its promise to debut over 40 new vehicles in the next two years as part of the largest model modernization program in company history.
Its latest push comes at the intersection of 14 decades of vehicle development and today’s rapidly developing technology. The company has invented numerous parts and systems that are commonplace today including antilock braking, airbags and modern fuel injection, and are working on new technology that may become commonplace tomorrow like in-wheel braking, heated seatbelts and paint that acts like a solar panel.
“First of all, we were engineers, and then we invented the car,” Marcus Breitschwerdt, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Heritage, told Newsweek. “We are an engineer company, which means we just bring progress into technical solutions. We believe that applied science, which is called technology, is improving the life of the individuals and the community.”
His comments echo the sentiment of Benz, who famously said, “The love of inventing never ends.”
Breitschwerdt marks Mercedes-Benz history with three important moments. “I think the first one was really to prove that individual mobility is feasible and affordable. The second is the full inclusion of safety standards, lifesaving safety standards, which made automotive mobility a very safe thing. And the third, I would say, is indeed the creation of solutions which have all the potential to become classics, even if progress moves on,” he said.
Recent moments on the Mercedes-Benz timeline highlight the company’s enduring engineering spirit. In 2022, the Vision EQXX concept car set a record driving 1,202 kilometers on a single battery charge. That car directly influenced the development of the now-in-sale CLA sedan and has further been translated into the Concept AMG GT XX, which broke records at the track in Nardó, Italy, last year and the EQS Sedan development vehicle that is equipped a trial solid-state battery that was piloted 1,205 kilometers.
It’s not just engineering that has kept Mercedes-Benz going for 140 years, however. “I think the pride first of all is we are still around, and we are not still around because anybody would have supported us to do so, but… because we were pretty successful in serving customer needs, in actually complying with public and political standards and requests and making this a business on the one hand, but fine art on the other hand as well,” Breitschwerdt said.