It is all about being the first, all about bringing something new when others think there is nothing left to be invented. This is what Mercedes-Benz has been doing for over a century. The 3-pointed star company invented the ABS, the airbag and not to mention that the first automobile was sent onto the road by none other than Carl Benz!
So what did Mercedes-Benz bring into the car industry? What made them ground-breaking? Here are only 5 items that they invented!
5. The automobile. In 1886, Carl Benz built something that made all the others think he was crazy. The Patent Motorwagen, the project conceived by him and financed by his wife, proved that Mrs. Benz was even crazier. One night she fled from Mannheim to Pforzheim, together with her sons, on board the first vehicle that was not drawn by horses.
4. The gasoline direct injection. It came into the world in 1954, with the revolutionary eye-catching Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, the first production car to use it. It was the fastest production car of that time, as the system proved expensive, but effective.
3. The ABS. In 1978, the second generation of the anti-locking braking system made our roads safer. But eight years before, in 1970, the first-generation of the ABS for passenger cars, a system that had been developed together with TELDIX, had its world premiere.
2. The airbag. Good not to see, but even better to have, the world’s first airbag was fitted in a Mercedes-Benz in 1981 and introduced in West Germany, as an option on the S-Class W126 saloon to reduce the occupants’ motion on impact. Now it is standard and mandatory equipment on all cars.
1. Autonomous driving. Mercedes-Benz changed the perspective on traveling with the presentation of the F015 Luxury in Motion, the car that drives itself, detects passengers, projects zebras and promotes connectivity. Most of the innovative systems have been fitted in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class of today.
