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<h2>The Success and occasional failures of Mercedes Benz cars</h2> <p> Over the years Mercedes have certainly had a great deal more successes than failures. Their cars so impressively designed are a shining example of how a quality car should engineered, but has it always been this way? Well certainly it has not always been easy for Mercedes; they have had to face many challenges throughout the years, many of which were completely out of their control. And some perhaps not; for example their more recent problems with build quality, which many believe were completely of Mercedes own making. Confidence in Mercedes dropped in the late 1990's when it became evident that both mechanical and electronic faults were on the increase. Contract hire and leasing brokers became worried about recommending Mercedes Benz to clients. The M class received the most criticism from motoring journalists.<br /><br />Various surveys at the time criticised Mercedes build quality; in 2003 The Consumer Association carried out a survey that criticised all the major German manufacturers, saying that they had all deteriorated, but Mercedes which they had previously considered best for reliability, was changed to average.<br /><br />The Mercedes M class was placed last out of 142 cars surveyed by the BBC's Top Gear programme in 2004. These were not good times for Mercedes but to their credit they have since made considerable changes, and gradually the Mercedes marque has once again become associated with dependability<br /><br />In 1886 the world's first automobile was invented by Karl Benz. He patented the vehicle and called it the Benz Patent Motorwagen. Benz was based in the German town of Mannheim.The car's three wheels were little wider that today's bicycle wheels. The ride was rather harsh and the occupants had no protection from the elements. Lights to enable the vehicle to negotiate the poor road conditions at night had not been thought of.<br /><br />Although Karl Benz and Gottleib Daimler, who was also carrying out similar work to Benz, were only about 100 Kilomteres apart, neither was aware of the other's work. And at about the same time Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach also invented a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. It was called the Daimler Riding Car and was used for testing their internal combustion engine, that became known as the Grandfather Clock, so called because of it's upright cylinder. Although the vehicle was called a car it was in fact a motorcycle, the world's first motorcycle. It had just one cylinder and a top speed of about 13 Kilometres per hour.<br /><br />During 1886 Daimler and Maybach launched their Motorised Carraige, again they installed their Grandfather clock engine which was referred to as high-speed, the top speed was about 18 kilometres per hour, although compared to walking it was high-speed. It was the world's first four wheel car; although Karl Benz had patented his car in the same year, his was a three wheel vehicle. During 1889 Daimler exhibited another car that became known as the wire wheel car, at an exhibition in Paris. It certainly attracted a lot of attention, it is said that seeing this vehicle, is what started the French motor industry.<br /><br />Karl Benz was by the 1980's also manufacturing 4 wheel cars, in both 2, 3, and 4 seater versions. The stability of the cars were much improved by the system he had developed where each of the front wheels could turn on a different radius<br /><br />The pace of development was fast in 1894 Benz introduced the Benz Motor Velocipide, it was a two seater vehicle with a top speed of about 20 kilometres per hour. It was the first car to be produced in any serious volumes he sold 1200. Benz then produced a motorized bus, it was a lovely looking vehicle but not terribly succesful; a combination of poor road conditions and its very narrow wheels made it farly impracticle.<br /><br />Daimler launched a belt driven car in 1896, now with two cylinders but still it could only achieve 18 mph. Daimler's truck, a flat bed truck, was the world's first. It was rather odd looking but nevertheless very popular in spite of it's fairly limiting top speed of 11kph. They were used by German breweries for beer deliveries, some were exported to England. Also in 1896 Daimler brought out a vehicle capable of carrying loads of aything up to 500kgs. It had a rather strange appearance, looking a little like one of the covered wagons you would see in films portraying the Wild West.<br /><br />Benz's new vehicle in 1899 was called the Dos a Dos, it could achieve speeds of up to 35 KPH, which was fast. It was a 4 seater, two of the passengers would sit facing the rear of the car.<br /><br />When Daimler died in 1990, control of the company passed to William Maybach. A very succesful motor racing driver and businessman, Emil Jellinek told Maybach that he should produce cars that were faster and more modern in design. He also asked Maybach to call his cars Mercedes; his young daughter's name. This is where the name Mercedes, that the cars still carry today, originated.<br /><br />A number of more modern and faster car were produced by Daimler, in the early 1900's. There was the 40 horsepower Mercedes Simplex that suceeded the 35 horsepower model. It was a single seater car with a top speed of 80 Kilometres per hour by now the car had 4 cylinders. One of these models is believed to be the oldest Mercedes still in existence.<br /><br />The 18 horsepower Double Phaeton was launched by Benz in 1905,then in 1907 the six cylinder 75 hp Double Phaeton. Its top speed exceeded 94 kilometres per hour, very fast for its day. By now Benz was enjoying success in motor racing, as were Mercedes.<br /><br />During the First World War both Benz and Daimler's production were converted into producing materials for the war effort. The German economy suffered badly at the end of the war, there was a shortage of fuel and a heavy luxury tax had been placed on car production, inflation was starting to get out of control. The cost of a car became so high it was out of most people's reach. A far cry from today where a luxury Mercedes can be found on contract hire from around 300 per month.<br /><br />Benz's financial position had been seriously weakened; it is believed that Daimler made an approach to Benz, with a proposal of merging but it did not proceed. By 1924 both companies were suffering financially and an agreement was signed and the companies were finally merged in 1926.<br /><br />When car production started again, the Mercedes two seater sports car was launched. It had a supercharged engine and a top speed of over 108 kilometres per hour. During 1927 Mercedes Benz started production of the Model S touring car, the S stood for sport. The vehicle had six cylinder and an amazing speed of over 160 kilometres per hour. 1928 saw the introduction of the SSK Sports two seater, it was designed for hill climbing races and was even faster at over 190 kilometres per hour.<br /><br />In 1934 Mercedes Benz brought out the 500K. It was only for the very rich, with a price tag of 28,000 Marks. It wasn't as fast as the SSK but could still achieve a very respectable 160 kph. It was a beautifully designed car; long and elegant with a tremendous amount of style.<br /><br />The 550K was followed by the 540K, a car not dissimilar in design but 10 kph faster. Mercedes were also manufacturing the Mercedes Benz 770, a very large luxury car. The vehicle was a favourite with Germany's captains of industry, in which they would be chauffeur driven. At the time manufacturers did not seem concerned about the very small numbers that they produced of a particular model, before bringing out the next model, about 420 of the 540K were produced and Mercedes manufactured less than 120 of the 770.<br /><br />During the Second World War Mercedes Benz become embroiled in controversy, with accusations of forced labour being used in their factories. Because Mercedes were part of the German war effort, the allied forces heavily targeted their factories. At the end of the war virtually all their factories had been destroyed. With hardly any machinery remaining and no raw materials available things looked bleak. However by 1948 they had re-started production. 1951 saw the launch of the Mercedes Benz 300 saloon, it was a prestige car and over 4500 were sold. Mercedes also produced the 300S convertible.<br /><br />The outstanding Gull-Wing two-seater hardtop was launched during the 1950s, so called because when the two doors were open, they opened upwards; it looked like a gull in flight. There had been nothing like it before and the motoring press loved it. It was sold very successfully in America but at around ,000 it was extremely expensive. However had someone bought one and held onto it, they would have made a lot of money; in 2006 a 1955 model was sold for the equivalent of 6,000 usd in an auction in Australia. In 1957 Mercedes brought out the 300 SL. This time an open sports car, it was extremely fast at nearly 250 kph. This model sold very well in America.<br /><br />As long ago as the 1960s Mercedes were carrying out quite sophisticated vehicle testing, sophisticated that is, for those times. It is hard to imagine in today's world of high technology that the system they used for transmitting data from the test vehicle to another vehicle that gathered the information was a long cable, running between the two cars. Clearly it was important for both vehicles to drive at the same speed.<br /><br />During 1963 Mercedes Benz launched the 230SL, the first sports car to have a crumple free zone. It was not particularly fast compared with some of the previous models; it had a top speed of less than 200 Kilometres per hour. It was however hugely popular selling, nearly 20,000 models. Mercedes had come a long way from the days when they were making just a few hundred of each model. In 1978 Mercedes Benz introduced anti lock brakes (ABS). In 1981 they were the first manufacturer to introduce the airbag. One can only speculate on the number of lives and serious injuries, those safety features will have saved over the years.<br /><br />1982 saw the launch of the hugely popular 190E, of which over 600,000 were sold. Mercedes enjoyed great success during the 1980's and 90's. Daimler Chrysler was created in 1998, when The Chrysler Corporation merged with Mercedes Benz. This proved to be pretty much a disaster for both companies. In 2007 Chrysler sold 80.1% to Cerberus Capital Management. Chrysler had invested billion in Mercedes, their sale of 80.1% of the company, returned them just .4 billion.<br /><br />Mercedes are now paying a great deal of attention to getting their build quality right and in a relatively short period of time have gone a long way to restoring their reputation and good name. Contract hire companies are once again happy to recommend Mercedes Benz and soon expect them, quite deservedly, to be once again categorised as best for reliability.<br /><br />Should you have any queries or questions with regard to Licence checking, Fleet Management, Contract Hire, Personal Contract Hire, Lease Purchase or vehicle Hire Purchase, please do not hesitate to contact us. Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536. www.bowaterprice.com. <p style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top:5pt"> <font face="Arial" style="font-size: 10pt">Article Source: <a href="http://www.ArticlesMaker.com">ArticlesMaker.com</a></font></p> <h3>About the Author</h3> Get extra free articles on <a href="http://www.funding.bowaterprice.com/vehicle-leasing.html" target="blank" target="_blank">vehicle leasing UK</a> go to <a href="http://www.bowaterprice.com" target="blank" target="_blank">www.bowaterprice.com</a>

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