2002

At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan/USA, Mercedes-Benz presents the exciting design study "Vision GST" (Grand Sports Tourer), an entirely new vehicle concept that comes on the market in 2005 as the R-Class.

DaimlerChrysler and GE Capital announce that GE Capital will take over part of the capital services portfolio in the USA from DaimlerChrysler Capital Services. DaimlerChrysler will receive € 1.3 billion (USD 1.2 billion) for the sale of the Commercial Real Estate and Asset-Based Lending portfolios.

In the M 271 Mercedes-Benz presents a new generation of four-cylinder petrol engines with the innovative TWINPULSE system – a combination of supercharging, intercooling, four-valve-per-cylinder technology, adjustable camshafts and Lanchester balancer shafts. The 1.8-litre in-line four-cylinder is built in four variants from 105 kW / 143 hp to 141 kW / 192 hp and first sees use in the C-Class starting in June, and in the CLK and E-Class from the autumn.

Micro Compact Car smart GmbH, Renningen, and Brabus GmbH, Bottrop, sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the intention of forming a joint company called smart-Brabus GmbH. Both parent companies will hold a 50 % stake in the resulting company.

The Freightliner Business Class M2, a new generation of medium-duty short-radius distribution vehicles, debuts at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. For the first time, Freightliner uses major assemblies such as engines and transmissions from the DaimlerChrysler production network as standard. The OM 900 family of in-line diesel engines come from Mannheim production.

EvoBus offers the luxury touring coaches of the Mercedes-Benz Travego and Setra TopClass 400 series with two further trailblazing safety innovations: Brake Assist (BA), which automatically builds up maximum brake pressure during emergency braking, is part of the standard equipment with immediate effect, and the FDR dynamic handling control system – comparable to ESP in Mercedes-Benz passenger cars – is available as an optional extra.

Jean Alesi drives the new Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM racing touring car to its first win at the DTM race at Donington Park, UK.

In Washington, D.C., the fuel cell car NECAR 5 completes its spectacular long-distance run through the USA from west coast to east coast after 16 days and 5,250 kilometres. The vehicle runs on methanol and generates the required hydrogen while on the move.

Two days after its rollout at the DaimlerChrysler Sindelfingen plant, the first unit of the Maybach 62 sets out from Southampton on the journey to its world premiere. The "Queen Elizabeth II" ocean liner brings the high-end luxury saloon to New York, where it is introduced to the public on 2 July.

Six months after the premiere of the E-Class 211 series, Mercedes-Benz adds the special-protection version with integrated high protection to the model range. Market launch of the E-Class Guard saloons follows in autumn.

Pope John Paul II appears for the first time in his new Popemobile based on the Mercedes-Benz M-Class at World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada.

The first Unimog from the Wörth plant, a U 400, is ceremoniously handed over to its buyer. At the original production site, Gaggenau, the last of 320,748 Unimog vehicles built there, a U 4000 with crewcab and platform, rolled off the assembly line on 2 August.

The second generation of the successful Actros long-haul truck series debuts at the International Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is presents with many practical improvements in a facelifted version which, like the Actros, has its market launch in early 2003. The revised Sprinter variants with a permissible gross vehicle weight of up to 3.5 tonnes are equipped as standard with the active safety system ESP. The newly developed, extremely competent off-road Unimog range U 3000, U 4000 and U 5000 from the 437.4 series, designed for difficult assignments in trackless terrain, also celebrates its premiere. The successor to the heavy-duty Unimog 427 and 437 series, which was produced in Gaggenau until mid-year, rolls off the assembly line at the new Unimog production site in Wörth. With the Integro M, EvoBus presents a 12.97-metre raised-floor variant of the successful rural service series. The all-new Setra S 431 DT double-decker also premieres. The flagship of the TopClass 400 serie

DaimlerChrysler AG announces it is acquiring a further 30 % stake in Ilmor Engineering Ltd. in Brixworth, Northamptonshire/UK. DaimlerChrysler will thus increase its share from currently 25 % to a total of 55 % and become majority owner effective 31 October 2002. Mario Illien, Liz Morgan, widow of company co-founder Paul Morgan, and Roger Penske then hold a 15 % stake each.

Bernd Schneider in an AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM wins the tenth round of the DTM at the Hockenheimring and secures the vice championship. In the team standings, the Vodafone AMG-Mercedes team with Schneider and Alesi take first place at the end of the season.

By putting seven newly developed closed car carriers into service, DaimlerChrysler sets new standards in the rail transportation of new vehicles of the Mercedes-Benz brand. In the presence of Hans-Heinrich Weingarten, manager of the DaimlerChrysler plant Sindelfingen, Karl Michael Mohnsen, Board Member Car Loading Operations DB Cargo AG, and Manfred Kuhr, Board Member BLG Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft AG, the first train load is sent on its way from the entraining station at the Sindelfingen plant.