DCX set to shed Chrysler from name
Many shareholders are breathing a sigh of relief as DaimlerChrysler goes through the formality of shedding "Chrysler" from its letterhead — a final farewell to the money-losing American automaker it sold most of earlier this year.
But some are wondering: What happened to Mr. Benz?
Though shareholders are widely expected to approve the change to Daimler AG today, scores have complained that the company should still include the name of Karl Benz, a man often considered the grandfather of the automobile in Germany.
Among several motions to be considered at the meeting in Berlin, shareholder Bernd Gans of Vaterstetten, Germany, argues that returning to the original name would right a wrong.
"Replacing the traditional name of Benz with the name of the U.S. corporation, which at that time was already sufficiently well-known as a crisis company, was always regarded as arbitrary and in bad style," he wrote.
"A return to including the name of one of the founders, Benz, would … constitute a certain degree of compensation for the many years of frustration for the employees, particularly in the traditional Benz plants, who deserve to find equal recognition in the name of the corporation in the same way as the employees of the Daimler plants."
Daimler-Benz was formed in 1926 by a combination of companies founded by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. More at Detroit News