Daimler to disappear and change name to...?

Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes and thus of the Formula 1 team, is to change its name to Mercedes-Benz, the company announced on Thursday. Not an earth-shattering change, but the company's structure is also going to change.

The name Daimler is a relic of a merger between the company of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in the 1920s. Although the company had long been virtually synonymous with Mercedes, the Daimler name stuck around for almost a century.

Different customers for cars and trucks

This is now coming to an end and Bloomberg reports that the Daimler share has immediately risen nine per cent. In the world of passenger cars, Mercedes-Benz is simply a stronger brand, so this is a logical step.

But that is not the only change. The bus and truck divisions of Daimler are to be separated and become a separate company. However, the Daimler name will remain. "Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans and Daimler Trucks & Buses are different companies with specific customer groups, technology paths and capital requirements," says CEO Ola Kallenius.