Dr. Zetsche Defends DaimlerChrysler Name Change

Washington DC October 4, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche reassured shareholders today that the automaker was not abandoning its history by changing its name to Daimler AG from Daimler-Benz, the company's name for much of the 20th Century.

The Benz name would remain in the company's flagship luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz, and get plenty of attention, Zetsche told shareholders before a vote on dropping Chrysler from the name, a formality after selling a majority stake in the U.S. automaker earlier this year.

Zetsche said the company needed to clearly differentiate its individual product brands from that of the corporate entity, and that surveys showed that Mercedes-Benz was "the most coveted automobile brand in Germany."

According to the Detroit News, Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler merged their companies in 1926 to form Daimler-Benz AG. Daimler-Benz AG merged with Chrysler Corp. in 1998. In May, DaimlerChrysler AG's supervisory board gave its final approval to sell 80.1 percent of its stake in Chrysler to the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.