1996

Event44

Joint venture: under one roof with Porsche

1 January 1996
Mercedes-Benz AG and Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG form CTS Fahrzeugdachsysteme GmbH in Hamburg, in which the two partner...

Concept study shows design elements of the M-Class

Concept study shows design elements of the M-Class

6 - 15 January 1996
At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan/USA, Mercedes-Benz presents the "AAVision", a concept...

Hybrid trucks in everyday operation

11 January 1996
In Freiburg Baden-Württemberg's transport minister Hermann Schaufler takes delivery of a Mercedes-Benz 1517 hybrid truck...

New commercial vehicles in Geneva

New commercial vehicles in Geneva

12 - 21 January 1996
The new light Vito van (638 series), crowned "Van of the Year 1996" a little earlier, is displayed to the public at the...

Mercedes-Benz at Bus Days in Frankfurt/Main

19 - 21 & 26 - 28 January 1996
The O 405 GNÜ low-floor articulated rural bus and the O 405 NK, a shorter version of the O 405 N, make their debuts at t...

Fokker bailout fails

22 January 1996
The Supervisory Board of Daimler-Benz AG approves the recommendation of the Board of Management to discontinue financia...

Setra S 315 NF presented

Setra S 315 NF presented

31 January 1996
At the Donauhalle venue in Ulm, EvoBus presents to the press the Setra S 315 NF, which adds a low-floor regular service...

Adtranz rail technology unit begins operation

1 February 1996
ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation GmbH (Adtranz), a joint-venture company founded by Daimler-Benz AG and Asea Brown Boveri...

Mercedes-Benz Mexico: wholly-owned Daimler-Benz subsidiary

2 February 1996
Mercedes-Benz Mexico (MB Mex) becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG.

New cars at Geneva Motor Show

New cars at Geneva Motor Show

7 - 17 March 1996
Mercedes-Benz presents three world firsts as at the Geneva Motor Show: the estate versions of the C-Class (202 series) a...

Environment-friendly paint for A-Class

Environment-friendly paint for A-Class

March 1996
At the Rastatt plant, which is being readied to produce the A-Class, an innovative paint shop goes into trial operation...

E-Class: assembly and sale in Egypt

1 April 1996
Mercedes-Benz AG and the passenger car general distributor National Automotive Company (NATCO) agree a joint venture an...

A-Class production in Brazil

19 April 1996
In Brasilia, the contractual prerequisites are created to allow the A-Class to be produced in future in Juiz de Fora, i...

Series version of SLK presented

Series version of SLK presented

25 April - 5 May 1996
The production version of the Mercedes-Benz SLK (R 170 series) is unveiled to the public at the International Motor Sho...

Natural-gas prototype Sprinter goes to test customers

Natural-gas prototype Sprinter goes to test customers

3 May 1996
rhenag Rheinische Energie AG in Cologne and Hermes Versand Service, a parcel delivery firm, receive the first prototype...

Compact implement carrier Unimog UX 100 presented

Compact implement carrier Unimog UX 100 presented

7 - 11 May 1996
The compact Unimog UX 100 implement carrier (409 series) has its debut at IFAT, the International Trade Fair for Waste...

Awards for two regular-service buses made by EvoBus

Awards for two regular-service buses made by EvoBus

13 May 1996
In Konstanz the Setra S 315 NF low-floor regular service bus is chosen "Bus of the Year 1996" by an international jury o...

NECAR II with compact fuel cell

NECAR II with compact fuel cell

14 May 1996
The Research Division of Daimler-Benz presents another car with fuel cell drive at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. NECAR II (...

Truck racing: first win of season thanks to Oestreich

Truck racing: first win of season thanks to Oestreich

18/19 May 1996
Markus Oestreich notches up the first win of the season for Mercedes-Benz in the second run of the Super Race Trucks at...

Par value of Daimler-Benz share reduced considerably

22 May 1996
The Annual Shareholders' Meeting of Daimler-Benz AG votes to reduce the par value of the Daimler-Benz share from DM 50 t...

New S-Class diesel model

New S-Class diesel model

3 June 1996
The new S-Class diesel model, the S 300 Turbodiesel with economical 130 kW / 177 hp four-valve engine, is introduced to...

Daimler sells Dornier to Fairchild

5 June 1996
The industrial management of Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dornier GmbH (Friedrichshafen), a cor...

Daimler-Benz absorbs AEG

5 June 1996
At the 132nd and last Annual General Meeting of AEG, the decision is taken to merge AEG AG into Daimler-Benz AG with eff...

Aksaray plant: Mercedes-Benz Türk celebrates premiere of the MB 800

Aksaray plant: Mercedes-Benz Türk celebrates premiere of the MB 800

5 June 1996
The MB 800, a light truck for short-range distribution work with a payload of up to 5.4 tonnes, celebrates its premiere...

Environmental working group begins work

10 June 1996
Arbeitskreis Umwelt (AKU), the environmental working group founded by committed Mercedes-Benz employees, begins its reg...

First Formula One Safety Car made by AMG

First Formula One Safety Car made by AMG

30 June 1996
AMG supplies the official Formula One Safety Car for the first time at the French Grand Prix in Magny-Cours. The silver...

Clean and economical: truck and bus engines

Clean and economical: truck and bus engines

1 - 5 July 1996
At the Mannheim plant Mercedes-Benz presents the V6 and V8 units of the all-new OM 500 engine family, which find use in...

Actros supersedes SK heavy-duty class

Actros supersedes SK heavy-duty class

5 July 1996
Under the name "Actros", Mercedes-Benz presents a heavy-duty truck series to the press which is a wholly new development...

Corporate intranet installed

23 July 1996
The launch of a corporate intranet creates a new quality of internal communications at Daimler-Benz.

Vito van with electric drive

Vito van with electric drive

July 1996
The compact van Vito introduced in the spring is presented with an environment-friendly, locally emission-free electric...

E-Class chassis for special bodies

E-Class chassis for special bodies

July 1996
With the market launch of the chassis with partial body variant, Mercedes-Benz makes a further addition to the E-Class 2...

Natural gas drive for C-Class and E-Class

Natural gas drive for C-Class and E-Class

August 1996
Mercedes-Benz offers the C 230 and E 230 models as an optional extra with Natural Gas Technology (NGT) for bivalent oper...

Workaday testing of hybrid bus

Workaday testing of hybrid bus

August 1996
Mercedes-Benz presents the O 405 NÜH hybrid bus, which features electric hub drive, a sodium-nickel chloride high-capaci...

Sprinter plant opened in Buenos Aires

16 September 1996
German Chancellor Dr Helmut Kohl and Argentinean State President Carlos Menem inaugurate a new van plant in Buenos Aire...

Hanover CV show: Actros, Vario and buses

Hanover CV show: Actros, Vario and buses

21 - 29 September 1996
The Actros heavy-duty truck series celebrates its public premiere at the International Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanov...

F 200 Imagination research vehicle

F 200 Imagination research vehicle

3 - 13 October 1996
The F 200 Imagination coupé study is presented at the Paris Motor Show, unveiling a wide range of technical innovations...

Daimler-Benz Innovation Prize

8 October 1996
The Daimler Benz Innovation Prize is presented at the Mercedes Benz Museum to the two TEMIC employees who developed the...

First place in European Truck Racing championship

First place in European Truck Racing championship

12/13 October 1996
Two third places in a Mercedes-Benz 1834 S at the final race of the season in Jarama, Spain, are enough to earn Steve P...

Fourth place in the constructors' classification

Fourth place in the constructors' classification

13 October 1996
At the close of the 1996 Formula One racing season, Team McLaren-Mercedes has a total of 49 points to give it fourth pl...

Rastatt plant builds A-Class in future

18 October 1996
In Rastatt the last of 36,464 210-series E-Class saloons is completed. This spells the end of E-Class production in Rast...