January 2, 2020 Beyond Mercedes Benz

A look at other vehicles In the Daimler AG line.

The legendary vehicle company, Mercedes Benz, is owned by Daimler AG – a multinational automotive conglomerate. They not only produce Mercedes Benz vehicles but others like trucks and buses. Here are four other vehicles, other than Mercedes Benz, in the Daimler AG Line.

Trucks

From the mid-1950s till the late-1970s, Freightliner was a major player in the automotive industry, manufacturing commercial vehicles such as large buses and freight trucks. Appreciating their success; they were purchased from their original owner, Consolidated Freightways, by Daimler-Benz AG in 1981. As the years passed, the company continued to grow and succeed; they started a brand-new corporate base in Portland, Oregon, and acquired other companies such as the Detroit Diesel Corporation and Thomas Built Buses. Freightliner LLC changed its name to Daimler Trucks North America in 2007 and under this new brand, has been at the forefront of designing many amazing trucks like the first hybrid fuel truck in 2010 which ran on diesel and electricity.

Microcars

Making microcars was not part of the original Daimler-Benz plan. In fact, the original 1994 design of the Smart Fortwo was a hybrid car that would run on electricity and petrol sources, created by MCC AG – a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz. However; in 1998, due to various circumstances, the Smart Fortwo released and marketed by Smart (a division of Daimler AG) was a microcar: a small hatchback vehicle with a rear-engine and rear-wheel-drive. Since that time, the Smart Fortwo has been sold as the perfect couple car and has a presence in forty-six countries, including the UK – thanks to the Sandown Group. The Fortwo has been released in different versions; including the Smart Fortwo Cabrio, the Crossblade, and the Cdi.

Buses

Thomas Built Buses is the earliest known maker of buses in North America. They were originally founded as Thomas Car Works in 1916. Their first operations involved constructing streetcars, which they did from 1918 – 1930. Having built 400 streetcars, they began to build buses. Thomas Built constructed her first trolley bus in 1933 and then in 1934, built ten transit buses. With a taste for this line, they spent the next few decades building fleets of different buses; including the flagship school bus that has become well-known all over the world. Having achieved so much, they were acquired by a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG, Freightliner, in 1998.

Motorcycles

Daimler AG is not only into producing four-wheeled beauties, but also creates two-wheeled ones as well. They acquired a 25% minority stake of the Italian-founded motorbike company, MV Agusta, in 2015. MV Agusta was founded in 1945 and is a producer of top-quality bikes like the 175 CSTL and CST, as well as the world-famous Vespa 98.

These are just four out of the many other vehicles and companies in the Daimler AG line. Next time you are discussing cars at a party, pull out these factoids and give the person you are speaking with a new thing to remember!

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