1993

  • 9 - 17 January 1993
  • At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan/USA, Mercedes-Benz presents the study for an SL Roadster with an innovative panoramic glass roof that affords optimum all-round visibility even in poor weather. The 600 SL from the R 129 series features a mother-of-pearl white special finish combined with two-tone black-and-white all-leather upholstery.
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  • 26 January 1993
  • Helmut Werner, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz AG, states at a press conference in Stuttgart that Mercedes-Benz will undertake a far-reaching realignment of its strategic product policy in the next few years. The plan is to evolve from a traditional luxury car manufacturer to an exclusive full-line supplier with high-quality vehicles in all market segments.
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  • 29 January 1993
  • Dr Dieter Zetsche, member of the Board of Management, announces at a press conference in Stuttgart the decision to concentrate passenger car development, previously spread among 18 locations, in Untertürkheim and Sindelfingen in future. The decision involves total capital spending of DM 800 million, the concentration of engine and transmission development at the Untertürkheim plant and the construction of a Development and Preparation Centre for passenger cars in Sindelfingen.
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  • 10 February 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz AG and South Korea's SsangYong Motor Company also agree cooperation in the area of cars. Mercedes-Benz plans to support development of a SsangYong passenger car based on the Mercedes-Benz W 124 series.
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  • 2 March 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz presents the TANDEM cooperation concept to 1,000 representatives of the component supplying industry at the ICC International Congress Center in Berlin. This provides for a forward-looking reorganisation of communication and cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and its suppliers.
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  • 4 - 14 March 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz presents an elegant four-seater coupe study that reinterprets the Mercedes face at the Geneva Motor Show. The 210 series E-Class presented in 1995 and the CLK introduced in 1997 bring design elements of the coupe study into series production. The 500 GE, a limited special model of the cross-country vehicle fitted with a 177 kW / 240 hp five-litre V8 engine also has its world premiere.
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  • 3/4 April 1993
  • Steve Parrish, driving a Mercedes-Benz 1450 S, wins both Class C runs in the race at Brands Hatch, UK, that kicks off the new truck racing season. Gérard Cuynet in a Mercedes-Benz 1733 S wins the second run in Class A.
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  • 5 April 1993
  • At a press conference in Detroit, Michigan/USA, Mercedes-Benz Board of Management Chairman Prof. Werner Niefer announces that in the course of the year the company will begin construction of a new passenger car plant in North America to produce a four-wheel-drive sports utility vehicle starting in 1997.
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  • 8 April 1993
  • Two-and-a-half years after the signing of the licence agreements with Russian bus maker AVTROKON, implementation enters its decisive phase. With Board of Management Chairman Prof. Werner Niefer in attendance, the first six SKD (semi knocked-down) O 303 buses are shipped to Russia from the Mercedes-Benz Mannheim plant. AVTROKON will invest DM 250 million in the project, including the assembly of initially 85 buses delivered as SKD vehicles and CKD parts kits to Golitsyno, Russia.
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  • 26 April 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz AG and Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC) of the US announce that they have concluded agreements to develop, produce and sell a diesel engine for heavy trucks and buses. Subject of the contracts is a turbocharged 12-litre in-line six-cylinder OM 457 LA engine that will feature four-valve-per-cylinder technology and an electronically controlled injection system with unit pumps.
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  • April 1993
  • The first water-based paint shop, which permits environment-friendly painting with a sharp reduction in the use of volatile solvents, is put into service also at Mercedes-Benz's Sindelfingen plant. In Bremen the SL Roadster has been painted by this method since 1989.
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  • 10 - 31 May 1993
  • With a trial driving presentation at the Lämmerbuckel site, Mercedes-Benz presents the new 202-series compact saloon to the press, which goes by the name C-Class. Sales also commence on 10 May and the market launch takes place on 18 June.
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  • 10 May 1993
  • With the start of sales of the C-Class, the model designations of all Mercedes-Benz passenger car models change. A letter or a combination of letters – such as C or SL – before the three-digit number indicates the class that the vehicle belongs to, and any subsequent letters, e.g. D, E, T, S, which hitherto served as identification of the engine and body variant, are discontinued.
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  • 10 May 1993
  • Simultaneously with the C-Class (202 series), upgraded models in two further car series go on sale. The stylistically revised models of the 124 series are launched under a new name, "E-Class", and in the R 129 SL series, now called SL-Class, the SL 280 and SL 320 models succeed the previous six-cylinder models 300 SL and 300 SL-24.
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  • 19 May 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz opens the "Oldtimer Center" in Fellbach near Stuttgart as a sales and service outlet for classic Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The "Classic Center", as it is known from 1996, provides assistance for veteran and vintage car owners around the world with regard to technical matters, replacement parts, accessories and, not least, in the location and sale of classic vehicles.
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  • 23 May 1993
  • Stuttgart‘s Neckarstadion, located alongside the Mercedes-Benz Untertürkheim plant, is renamed the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium.
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  • 18 June 1993
  • At its sales and service outlets and dealerships, Mercedes-Benz presents the new 202 series C-Class and stylistically modified 124 series passenger car models, which have been given the designation "E-Class". A noteworthy technical innovation is the world's first passenger car diesel engines with four-valve-per-cylinder technology: the 2.2-litre four-cylinder OM 604 (C-Class only), the 2.5-litre five-cylinder OM 605 and the 3-litre six-cylinder OM 606 (E-Class only). The emission control system with oxidising catalytic converter and exhaust gas recirculation offered since 1990 becomes a part of the standard equipment of all Mercedes-Benz diesel-powered cars.
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  • 9 - 19 September 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz presents the "Vision A 93" concept study, a precursor to the A-Class, at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt am Main. One of the planned drive system variants is an electric drive with sodium nickel-chloride battery. A special feature of this electrically powered variant is the first-time use of a drive system with 550-volt technology. This provides important advantages such as weight reduction and a higher peak motor output. The 206 kW / 280 hp C 36 developed by AMG debuts as the top-of-the-line C-Class (202 series). The 3.6-litre six-cylinder AMG engine from the M 104 series is also used in modified form in the E 36 AMG, available as Estate, Coupé and Convertible. Uprated variants of the E-Class Saloon (W 210) and SL (R 129) are offered with a 280 kW / 381 hp 6-litre V8-engine as the E 60 AMG and SL 60 AMG. Another show first is an electrically powered vehicle based on the C-Class. It features a sodium-nickel chloride high-temperature battery which is liquid-cooled for the first time and
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  • 18/19 September 1993
  • In Zolder, Belgium, Gérard Cuynet, driving a Mercedes-Benz 1733 S, wins the first run to capture the champion's crown in Class A. This win in the penultimate race of the truck racing season is the ninth in a row for Cuynet and the fourteenth victory over the season. The manufacturers' title in Class A also goes to Mercedes-Benz.
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  • 19 September 1993
  • After the final race of the DTM season at the Hockenheimring, Roland Asch, driving an AMG-Mercedes 190 E Class 1, is runner-up in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM) for the second time.
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  • 20 September 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz presents the O 340 touring coach to the press at the Frankfurt Used Bus Centre to mark its sales launch in Germany. The coach, manufactured by the Turkish subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Türk, now adds a variant in the lower-priced segment to the range of Mercedes-Benz coach models available in Germany.
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  • 23 September 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz AG announces its decision to invest USD 40, equivalent to a 13 % share, in US engine manufacturer Detroit Diesel Corporation (DDC), Detroit, Michigan/USA, through its subsidiary Diesel Project Development Inc. (DPD). This takes place in October on the occasion of the listing of the DDC shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
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  • 30 September 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz AG chooses Tuscaloosa in the US state of Alabama as the location for production of its future four-wheel drive sports utility vehicle, which is presented in 1996 as the AAVision and comes on the market in 1997 as the M-Class.
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  • 2/3 October 1993
  • At the truck-racing season finale in Jarama, Spain, Steve Parrish wins the first run in a Mercedes-Benz 1450 S, with Axel Hegmann taking second. In the second run Hegmann wins and Parrish finishes second. Parrish is thus European Truck racing champion in Class C for the third time; brand colleagues Markus Oestreich, Axel Hegmann and Heinz Dehnhardt follow in the rankings. Mercedes-Benz tops the constructors' rankings in Class C by a large margin.
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  • 11 October 1993
  • The first cut of the spade at the Daimler-Benz premises at Potsdamer Platz signals the beginning of construction on Berlin's biggest building site.
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  • 15 - 20 October 1993
  • The double-decker Setra 328 DT makes its debut at the Car and Bus trade show in Kortrijk, Belgium, as the new flagship model of the 300 series touring coach.
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  • 19 October 1993
  • The Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz AG chooses Bremen as the production location for another roadster series. The compact roadster, based on the C-Class, is given the name SLK in 1994 and introduced in 1996. The decision for Bremen means investments of DM 700 million.
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  • 3 November 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz announces the decision to take a stake in Ilmor Engineering based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire/UK. In cooperation with Ilmor plans are laid to expand motor sport activities in the 1994 season to include the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 in the USA.
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  • 1 December 1993
  • Mercedes-Benz and the Treuhandanstalt privatisation agency sign a contract in Ludwigsfelde concerning the complete takeover of Nutzfahrzeuge Ludwigsfelde GmbH (NLG) and Entwicklungsgesellschaft für Kraftfahrzeugtechnik mbH (EGL). Under the contract, Mercedes-Benz AG, which holds a 25 % share in both companies, takes over Treuhandanstalt's 75 % share with effect from 1 January 1994.
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  • 2 December 1993
  • The Bad Homburg plant is the first plant of Mercedes-Benz AG to have its quality management system certified by TÜV CERT as meeting the high demands of the DIN ISO 9001 standard.
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  • 15 December 1993
  • The Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz AG chooses Rastatt as production site for the new A-Class, scheduled for market launch in 1997. Despite alternatives in France, Britain and the Czech Republic being considered up to the very end, the decision for Rastatt was made after intense negotiations with the Central Works Council and centered on a cost differential and savings of DM 200 million.
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