1977

  • 11 March 1977
  • At Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG’s plant in Graz-Thondorf, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky lays the foundation stone for an extension to the production facilities. Geländefahrzeug Gesellschaft mbH (GfG), co-founded with Daimler-Benz AG in February and in which the two partners each have a 50 % stake, begins production of a jointly developed cross-country vehicle at the end of 1978.
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  • 25 - 29 April 1977
  • A new van series – consisting of the 207 D, 208, 307 D and 308 models – is presented to the press in Braunlage in the Harz region of Germany. Production of the series – internally designated TN (for "Transporter Neu” or "New Van”) – had already begun in January at the Bremen plant.
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  • 2 June 1977
  • At the Kassel plant, which is to become the central production site for truck axles within the Commercial Vehicle division of Daimler-Benz AG, the one-millionth commercial vehicle axle is built and presented at a ceremony attended by journalists and guests of honour from the world of politics and economics.
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  • 3 June 1977
  • Daimler-Benz files a patent application for a "reinforced longitudinal support member for an integral automobile body". This forked member principle is the central feature of a vehicle structure designed for asymmetric frontal impacts and is realised in series production for the first time in 1979 in the S-Class.
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  • 30 July 1977
  • Daimler-Benz apprentices from the Untertürkheim and Sindelfingen plants take the first two places in the "hobby/Shell Kilometre Marathon" with record-breaking vehicles which they designed and built themselves. Winner Jürgen Rapp from Untertürkheim needs only 10.1 cc of fuel, equivalent to 674 km per litre, for the 6.78 km course.
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  • 12 August - 28 September 1977
  • The teams of Andrew Cowan/Colin Malkin/Mike Broad and Anthony Fowkes/Peter O’Gorman celebrate a one-two victory in the marathon London – Sydney Rally in Mercedes-Benz 280 E rally cars. The "world's toughest rally" lasts for six-and-a-half weeks and covers 30,000 kilometres across Europe, southern Asia and Australia.
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  • 15 - 25 September 1977
  • The 123-series estate is presented to the public at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in the shape of the 240 TD, 300 TD, 230 T, 250 T and 280 TE. Other new passenger cars on display are the 450 SLC 5.0 with 5-litre V8 light-alloy M 117 engine and the 300 SD as first diesel variant of the S-Class. Bound for the US market, the 300 SD, which comes onto the market in April 1978, is the world’s first production car to have a diesel engine fitted with a turbocharger. This efficiency-boosting technology permits an increase in output of about 40 % with no appreciable additional fuel consumption. Also celebrating its world premiere is the O 305 G articulated pusher bus, which is based on the O 305 standard regular service bus. Revised versions of the light-duty and medium-duty trucks with permissible gross vehicle weights from 6 to 10 tonnes are also on show. In addition, Daimler-Benz demonstrates a pair of test vehicles with hydride storage tanks: a 280 E passenger car for petrol-hydrogen dual-fu
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  • 15 September 1977
  • Simultaneously with the 450 SLC 5.0 and the new estate models, the sale of another variant of the 123 series begins: the extended four-door saloons with longer wheelbase and 7-8 seats, which are initially available as 240 D, 300 D and 250.
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  • October 1977
  • A red 350 SLC (107 series) is the five-millionth passenger car to leave the assembly line at the Sindelfingen plant since production restarted in 1946. The first million were assembled within 16 years, the second in six years, the third in four years, the fourth in three years and the fifth million within two years.
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  • October 1977
  • National Automotive Industry Company Ltd. (NAI) based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, begins assembly of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles. Daimler-Benz has a 50 % holding in the company, which was founded on 3 March 1975 and is run jointly with long-standing sales partner E.A. Juffali & Bros.
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  • 31 December 1977
  • Prof. Hans Scherenberg retires after 35 years service in the company, 12 of which were spent as a member of the Board of Management. He is succeeded in the role of head of development by Werner Breitschwerdt.
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  • 31 December 1977
  • Following the gradual integration of its plants into the company's integrated production network, Hanomag-Henschel Fahrzeugwerke GmbH with its production facilities in Bremen, Hamburg-Harburg and Kassel, is merged with Daimler-Benz AG under company law.
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