New Bikes of Daimler

History
Daimler AG is a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines, which dates back more than a century.

An Agreement of Mutual Interest was signed on 1 May 1924 between Benz & Cie (founded 1883) of Karl Benz and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (founded 1890) of Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach.

Both companies continued to manufacture their separate automobile and internal combustion engine brands until, on 28 June 1926, when Benz & Cie. and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft AG formally merged—becoming Daimler-Benz AG—and agreed that, thereafter, all of the factories would use the brand name of Mercedes-Benz on their automobiles.

In 1998, Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corporation announced the world's largest cross-border deal ever, valued at US$38billion,and the resulting change in company name to "DaimlerChrysler AG".

In 2007, when the Chrysler group was sold off to Cerberus Capital Management (see below), the name[note 1] of the parent company was changed to simply "Daimler AG".

Timeline of Daimler AG

Benz & Company, 1883–1926

Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft AG, 1890–1926

Daimler-Benz AG, 1926–1998

DaimlerChrysler AG, 1998–2007

Daimler AG, 2007–present

Merger with Chrysler
In a so-called "Merger of Equals" Daimler-Benz AG and the American automobile manufacturer Chrysler Corporation merged in 1998 in an exchange of shares as Daimler-Benz AG bought 92% of Chrysler, and 8% of Chrysler remained independent[3] and formed DaimlerChrysler AG. The terms of the merger allowed Daimler-Benz's non-automotive businesses such as Daimler-Benz InterServices AG (created in 1989 to handle data processing, financial and insurance services, and real estate management for the Daimler group) to continue to pursue their respective strategies of expansion. Debis reported revenues of $8.6 bn (DM 15.5 bn) in 1997.

The merger was contentious with investors launching lawsuits over whether the transaction was the 'merger of equals' that senior management claimed or actually amounted to a Daimler-Benz takeover of Chrysler. A class action investor lawsuit was settled in August 2003 for US$300 million while a suit by billionaire investor activist Kirk Kerkorian was dismissed on 7 April 2005.[6] The transaction claimed the job of its architect, Chairman Jrgen E. Schrempp, who resigned at the end of 2005 in response to the fall of the company's share price following the transaction. The merger was also the subject of a book Taken for a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove Off With Chrysler, (2000) by Bill Vlasic and Bradley A. Stertz.

Another issue of contention is whether the merger delivered promised synergies and successfully integrated the two businesses. Martin H. Wiggers' concept of a platform strategy like the VW Group, was implemented only for a few models, so the synergy effects in development and production were too low.[8] As late as 2002, DaimlerChrysler appeared to run two independent product lines. Later that year, the company launched products that appear to integrate elements from both sides of the company, including the Chrysler Crossfire, which was based on the Mercedes SLK platform and utilized Mercedes's 3.2L V6, and the Dodge Sprinter/Freightliner Sprinter, a re-badged Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van.

Corporate affairs
Management
Dieter Zetsche has been the Chairman of Daimler and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars since 1 January 2006 as well as member of the Board of Management since 1998. He was former President and CEO of the Chrysler, LLC (previously owned by Daimler AG), he may be best known in the United States as "Dr. Z" from a Chrysler advertising campaign called "Ask Dr. Z".

Current members of the Board of Management of Daimler AG are:

• Dr. Dieter Zetsche: Chairman of the Board as well as Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.
• Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard: Head of Daimler Trucks.
• Dr. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt: Integrity and Legal Affairs.
• Wilfried Porth: Head of Human Resources and Labor Relations.
• Hubertus Troska: Greater China.
• Bodo Uebber: Head of Finance and Controlling as well as Financial Services.
• Dr. Thomas Weber: Head of Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.

The Board of Management total members is now seven after the unexpected resignation, on 28 January 2014, of Andreas Renschler, head of Manufacturing and Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars & Mercedes-Benz Vans.

As of May 2014, the members of Daimler AG's Supervisory Board are: Manfred Bischoff (Chairman), Michael Brecht (Deputy Chairman), Paul Achleitner, Sari Baldauf, Clemens Brsig, Bernd Bohr, Jrgen Hambrecht, Petraea Heynike, Jrg Hofmann, Andrea Jung, Joe Kaeser, Jrgen Langer, Ergun Lmali, Sabine Maaen, Wolfgang Nieke, Bernd Pischetsrieder, Valter Sanches, Jrg Spies, Frank Weber, Elke Tnjes-Werner.

Leadership

• Daimler-Benz AG (1926–1998)
• Wilhelm Kissel (1926–1942)
• Wilhelm Haspel (1942–1952)
• Heinrich C. Wagner (1952)
• Fritz Koenecke (1952–1960)
• Walter Hitzinger (1961–1966)
• Joachim Zahn (1966–1979)
• Gerhard Prinz (1980–1983)
• Werner Breitschwerdt (1983–1987)
• Edzard Reuter (1987–1995)
• Jrgen E. Schrempp (1995–1998)

Holdings
Daimler currently holds interests in the following companies:

• 89.29% Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation of Japan
• 50.1% Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation of Canada
• 50% Engine Holding Rolls Royce holds the other 50%
• 50% Denza (Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co., Ltd)
• 49% Tognum of Germany due to the 50% share in Engine Holding, which holds 98% of the Tognum Shares.
• 12% Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC)
• 11% KAMAZ of Russia
• 4.7% Tesla Motors of United States
• At the end of 2011 McLaren Group completely bought back the stocks from Daimler.
• 17 April 2013, Daimler AG exits EADS,[19] the parent company of Airbus of Europe.

Alternative propulsion
Biofuel research
Daimler AG is involved in a joint project with Archer Daniels Midland Company and Bayer CropScience to develop the semi-evergreen shrub jatropha curcas as a biofuel.[

Electric
Daimler AG and the utility company RWE AG were set in 2009 to begin a joint electric car and charging station test project in the German capital, Berlin, called "E-Mobility Berlin".

Following trials in 2007 and then with Tesla in 2009, Daimler is building a production Smart electric drive car using Tesla's battery technology.

Daimler's joint venture with BYD has resulted in the creation of the new marque Denza.

Fuel cell
Daimler has been involved with fuel cell development for some time, with a number of research and concept vehicles shown and demonstrated, the first being the 2002 Mercedes-Benz F-Cell car and the Mercedes-Benz Citaro Hydrogen bus. In 2013, the Renault-Nissan/Daimler alliance was joined by Ford to further develop the fuel cell technology with an aim for production by 2017.

Hybrid
Mercedes-Benz launched its first passenger car model equipped with a hybrid drive system in summer 2009, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class 400 Hybrid.and the Citaro Hybrid bus in 2007. Daimler Trucks and Mitusbishi Fuso have also trailed various hybrid models including the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter Eco Hybrid and Mitsubishi Fuso Aero Star Aero Star Eco Hybrid bus.

Formula One
Main article: Mercedes-Benz in Formula One
On 16 November 2009 Daimler purchased a 75.1% stake in Brawn GP. The company was rebranded as Mercedes GP. Ross Brawn remains team principal and the team is based in Brackley, UK. However the purchase of Brawn meant that Daimler sold back its stake in McLaren in stages that ended in 2011. Mercedes will continue to provide sponsorship and engines to McLaren until 2015. Mercedes owns 45.1% of the new company with 30% for Aabar Investments and 24.9% for Ross Brawn. The racing team has signed the former champion Lewis Hamilton as a replacement to Michael Schumacher who retired at the end of 2012.

Bribery and corruption
On 1 April 2010, Daimler AG's German and Russian subsidiaries each plead guilty to two counts of bribery charges brought by the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Daimler itself had to pay US$185 million as a settlement, but the company and its Chinese subsidiary remained subject to a two-year deferred prosecution agreement requiring further cooperation with regulators, adherence to internal controls and meeting other terms before final sentencing. Daimler would face harsher penalties should it fail to meet the terms of the agreement during the two-year period.

Additionally, Louis J. Freeh, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, served as an independent monitor to oversee Daimler's compliance with anti-bribery laws.