| Mercedes-Benz has a very proud heritage going back to 1886. Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz invented the first automobiles, which in turn formed the basis of the Mercedes-Benz car & truck brands.
Daimler & Benz never knew each other and never met, both worked on their own in Stuttgart & Mannheim. |
In 1883 Gottleib Daimler took out a patent on the first small. light, high speed combustion engine, this engine was installed for the first time in 1885 in a 'Riding car' (the first motorcycle), one year later in a boat and finally in 1886 in a carriage.
In 1879, on New Years eve, Karl Benz's first two-stroke engine sprang to life. Benz found two partners and founded "Benz & Co" in 1883 in Mannheim. With this financial security Kark Benz could now set about designing a "Motor Carriage", with an engine based on the Otto four-stroke cycle. Unlike Daimler, Benz designed not only his engine, but the whole vehicle as well. On 29th January 1886, he was granted a patent on it and on the 3rd of July 1886 he introduced the worlds first automobile! The rest as they say is history. |
| First truck produced by Gottlieb Daimler |
1 October 1896.
This date turned out later to be of great historical significance. On that day, the following was entered in the production records of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) in Cannstatt near Stuttgart: "Motorised goods vehicle, order no. 81, vehicle no. 42, four hp two-cylinder engine, weight of the complete vehicle: 1,200 kilograms for carrying a load of 1,500 kilograms, invoiced to British Motor Syndicate Ltd. London." Ten years after the invention of the first car, Gottlieb Daimler had built the world's first truck. |
| Tradition of more than 100 years |
The history of trucks bearing the Mercedes star has also been a history of mergers from an early stage. Numerous renowned brands in truck history have been incorporated in what is today the DaimlerChrysler Group. It started as early as 1911 with the takeover of Süddeutsche Automobil-fabrik in Gaggenau by Benz, used from then on as Benz's commercial vehicle plant. Brands incorporated at a later stage included Auto Union, Hanomag-Henschel, Krupp and the American Freightliner.
The Mercedes-Benz truck history is rich in highlights, and there are any number of models whose designations still bring a gleam to the truck connoisseurs' eyes today. There was, for instance, an 1898 truck with a gearwheel transmission and tubular radiator. Or the first diesel-engined trucks of 1923. |
| Post-war Daimler-Benz era |
Daimler-Benz started out post WW2 with the L 311 and later on with numerous trucks derived from this model. The heavy-duty L 6600 developed into the standard truck. Constraints in the late fifties gave rise to the design of new short-nose trucks. In the mid-sixties, the cab-over-engine trucks in the LP series ushered in the end of conventional trucks in Europe. In the following truck generations, the NG ("New Generation"), LK ("Light Class") and SK ("Heavy-duty Class"), the COE become a matter-of-course design concept.
Atego, Axor, Actros & Econic: Since 1995 all new trucks have been given names. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz launched an unparalleled renewal programme, replacing all model series within an extremely short time. Pioneering electronic control systems were introduced. |
| | | Axor Paramount performance standards |
|
| Atego Distinctive, durable and reliable |
|
|
Models
