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You’ve seen the iconic Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star all over the place–on cars, on dealer signage and even on merchandise. That small and simple image has become synonymous with quality and luxury. But do you know how the automaker came to choose that figure as its marketing symbol?

The story dates all the way back to the early 1880s when Benz and Daimler first got together.

Throughout the waning years of the 19th century, the two worked on perfecting their vehicles and marketing them for the public. They also worked on creating a name for the company that people eventually recognized as Mercedes. But they were still lacking a catchy trademark symbol.

Daimler’s two sons, Paul and Adolf , were senior executives of the company by the time their father passed away. They remembered he once used a star as the symbol for his company. On a postcard of his own house, he drew a star above the home and told his wife that the star would one day hang over his factory as a sign of prosperity.

In June of 1909, the DMG board accepted the proposal to use this star as the symbol for the company. At the time, the company trademarked a three-pointed and a four-pointed star. After 1910, the automaker only used the three-pointed star mounted on top of the radiator at the front of the vehicle.

Come back tomorrow for more about the history of the iconic star that you see at every Mercedes-Benz dealer in the world.

Whether you’re single or married, your Mercedes-Benz is one of your most prized possessions. And when there’s a chance of losing that possession, it can wreak havoc on your life.

That’s exactly what David Hasselhoff is experiencing right now.

In a court ruling last week regarding the divorce between David Hasselhoff and Pamela Bach, a judge ordered that she would get 50 percent of the couple’s $1 million-dollar home in California. But that’s not all.

Pamela Bach, a former actress, also gets the couple’s 1960 Mercedes and their 1999 Lincoln Navigator. She also gets many pieces of art that hung in their home and some furniture, according to CelebTV.com.

Hasselhoff also has to pay her $21,000 each month for child support for the couple’s two daughters, ages 15 and 17.

There is a bit of good news for the former star of the 1980s TV classic Knight Rider. The judge ordered that he could keep his 2006 Mercedes and the 2007 Cadillac Escalade. In addition, he can also keep all rights to his newly-released book, Making Waves.

Bach and Hasselhoff were married for nearly 16 years, but they filed for divorce in mid-2006.

A new Mercedes-Benz dealer in Charleston, South Carolina is already creating a buzz. Although it just opened recently, the Baker Motor facility has already earned two major distinctions. The first was a local award for selling its first ForTwo Smart minicar. The other award was for being the top MB dealership in the United States. And as there are nearly 350 MB dealers across the country, that’s no small feat to achieve!

Tommy Baker, the owner of the award-winning facility, is humble about the success. “The congratulations are for all these people,” he said, referring to his hard-working employees. “We won it all together. It’s something they’ll remember the rest of their lives.”

Baker also felt extremely honored to receive the awards. He said it was “the most prestigious thing to happen to me. It’s that big.”

The Mercedes-Benz Company chooses its top dealership in a “Best of the Best” competition. Contest officials decide on the best 15 percent of the facilities in the nation based on customer surveys. Baker’s facility was in the “best of” category in 2003 and 2006 as well. He was ecstatic when learning he had made the list again in 2007.

Officials announced the winner of the “Best of the Best” facility at a national business convention in San Antonio, Texas in March. Each MB facility had a representative at the convention. When Baker heard his name announced as the best, he came to the stage and received a green jacket, which was symbolic of his prize, a trip to the Masters PGA Championship in Augusta.

We spend a lot of time talking about the Mercedes-Benz Company, its news and its plans. But some people purchase a Mercedes and then do things with it that make the evening news. Here are a couple of those stories.

• A man in New Haven, Connecticut crashed a black Mercedes-Benz into the first floor of an apartment building early in the morning on April 14. The police report states there was a New Haven Police Department decal on one of the windows, but officers could not yet confirm whether the driver had stolen the car. When witnesses arrived on the scene, they found the stunned driver still sitting in the vehicle. He told police he borrowed the car from a friend so he could buy groceries at a nearby supermarket.

• Just when you think she’s getting back on the right path, Britney Spears does it again. While driving her Mercedes-Benz on a Los Angeles freeway earlier this month, she rear-ended a 2006 Nissan during stop-and-go traffic. As a result of the accident, the Nissan then lurched forward and bumped the car in front of it, too. This is just one more story in which Britney has caused trouble with her Benz.

Some folks have spotted Britney driving her vehicle with her infant son sitting in her lap, and police charged her with driving without a license. She received no citation in her most recent accident, though.

When you purchase a vehicle at your local Mercedes-Benz dealer, you’ll hopefully be more responsible and careful with it. These are expensive and luxurious vehicles. No one should take them for granted.

There aren’t too many weeks that go by without a story relating how Mercedes-Benz is doing something to help out the less fortunate. This week, there’s a story about how the automaker is helping out the Habitat for Humanity organization.

In Bergen County, New Jersey, 700 people who want to win a Mercedes-Benz C300 Sport Sedan or those who simply want to help a charity can chip in. If you’re interested, all you need to do is send a check for $100 to the following address and keep your fingers crossed:

Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County
10 Banta Place, Suite 105
Hackensack, NJ 07601

Include a note that you’d like to participate in the raffle for the Mercedes and you’ll receive a ticket stub. You can purchase as many tickets as you’d like, but there are only 700 available. Officials will sell them on a “first come, first served” basis.

But if you’re worried about paying the taxes on a luxury vehicle, the winner can also choose to take the cash equivalent ($30,000) instead of the Mercedes-Benz. However, if the contest sells fewer than 350 tickets, the cash prize is cut in half. Officials will announce the lucky winner on May 8 at the Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County Builder of the Year Award Dinner. The event will take place at the Marriott Glenpointe in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Don’t worry, though. You don’t need to be present to accept the prize.

Prestige Motors, a New Jersey Mercedes-Benz dealer, is supplying the vehicle for the raffle.

If you think a Mercedes-Benz dealer in North America is selling a lot of vehicles, you should see the MB dealers in India! They’re selling Benz vehicles like they’re going out of style. But you and I both know that they’ll never go out of style.

Here are a few staggering statistics that show exactly how successful Mercedes has been in the Indian market:

• In 2007, Mercedes-Benz sold 2,500 cars in the Indian market for the entire year.
• Those 2,500 vehicles represent more than 50 percent of the total number of luxury vehicles sold in the region last year.
• During the first three months of 2008, Mercedes-Benz sold nearly 1,100 vehicles in India.
• During the first three months of 2007, the automaker sold less than 700 vehicles in the region.
• Mercedes recently produced its 20,000th vehicle in India.

And MB officials see no end in sight for a while. In fact, one high-level official for MB of India had this to say about the company’s success in the region: “With the current developments, we are on a very good path and I am sure this path will continue for the next 5-10 years.”

The automaker also plans to expand its products. Mercedes-Benz wants to give Volvo a run for its money in the luxury bus market by the end of the year. You can bet that Mercedes is always looking for new ways to cater to its customers while still making the best vehicles in the business.

If you’re one of the lucky people who can afford to visit your local Mercedes-Benz dealer and buy one of the vehicles, you might feel overwhelmed at what’s available for you. Because a Benz is such a quality vehicle and everybody will notice it, you want to make sure you get one that says something about you. Here are some ways you can ensure you get the Mercedes you want and one you can enjoy for many years to come.

• Do Research on the Internet
Almost every Mercedes dealer has a website that shows its inventory and other features that will help you make your decision. Look at your local dealer’s website or compare a few in your general area.

• Ask Around
They say “word of mouth” is the best and most effective form of advertising. So one way to find the best car for you is to contact others who have bought Mercedes vehicles and ask them if they are satisfied with their purchases. Find out if they’ve tried different models or if they know anybody who has. They might be able to give you information that dealers can’t give you.

• Go to the Showroom
Visiting your local dealer and actually seeing the cars in person can be overwhelming, but it’s also fun. The sight of all the different models, colors and features glistening and shining is definitely worth the trip.

• Take a Test Drive
Can you imagine anything better than taking a few Mercedes-Benz vehicles for a test drive to decide which one you want? Enjoy every minute of your test drives and look for the vehicle that fits your driving needs best.

As buying a Mercedes is a large investment, there’s nothing wrong with taking some extra time to find the best one that you can afford. Follow these steps and you’ll impress your friends and your neighbors with your new purchase.

How many of us can say that we’ve either benefitted or could benefit from a navigation system in our vehicles? Today, those are pretty common in vehicles in North America. But did you know Mercedes-Benz is expanding its popular Street Pilot III portable navigation system overseas?

The navigation system, which MB will use in its compact models, is much like the one used in the Smart ForTwo car. It connects to the vehicle’s speaker system so the driver has no problem hearing the voice that gives directions. The navigation system also automatically mutes the radio when giving directions, reducing distractions for the driver. This isn’t typical of most other portable navigation devices, so that makes it a unique feature that Mercedes-Benz is offering to its overseas market.

The Street Pilot III has other unique features, too. MB designed the system’s holder so it can sit directly above the instrument panel on the dashboard. That way, the drivers can easily see the screen without diverting their eyes away from the road. The screen is also 3-D and has a zoom function for maps and rotating capabilities to give the driver the best and easiest view possible at all times.

You can find a similar unit in the vehicles at your local Mercedes-Benz dealer. The automaker is always improving its existing technology, so you’ll likely find a better unit with more features with each model year. Try one out today and you won’t know how you ever did without it!

Visiting a local Mercedes-Benz dealer might be an intimidating experience at first. In fact, you might not even want to set foot inside one because of its reputation for style and luxury. Some might even say “uppity” simply because of the general public’s view of the elite brand.

But if you don’t take that first step, you might miss out on something spectacular. Take this man’s story, for instance. He was hesitant about going to his local dealership at first, too. Even after he went inside, he felt intimidated by the number of MB products that surrounded him and the expensive vehicles that lined the aisles.

But within minutes of talking to the facility’s sales manager, he became a “raving fan of Mercedes-Benz automobiles.” The man he talked to sold cars for 25 years. He knew just about everything there was to know about Mercedes-Benz and the auto market as a whole. So when this newly-converted customer decided to purchase a vehicle from him, the salesperson wanted to make sure Mercedes did everything just right.

The customer said the sales manager “cared more about his store’s integrity and the long-term success of his customers than making a sale.” And that’s why he gained a new lifelong customer who is willing to pay a little extra for the privilege of feeling appreciated and treated like a valuable client.
So if you haven’t tried it, go for it. Mercedes might just turn you into a convert, too.

The Mercedes plant in the land of Bollywood just achieved another momentous milestone earlier this month. That’s when the workers at the Chikali factory completed the 20,000th MB vehicle on a Wednesday afternoon. And as the factory wasn’t even set up until 1995, that’s quite an accomplishment for the region and the automaker, too.

On top of that, the 20,000th vehicle was also the 10,000th E-Class model sold in India.

Sales throughout the region have kept up with the production, too. During the first quarter of 2008, officials sold nearly 1,100 Mercedes-Benz vehicles. With numbers like these, officials from Mercedes-Benz India see the market as a promising area for present and future car sales. The director of corporate affairs for MB India had this to say: “The market for Mercedes in India is getting very strong. It is an unprecedented increase.” He went on to cite last year’s sales of fewer than 700 MB vehicles during the same time frame.

Mercedes-Benz is also looking to expand production in the region to include luxury buses, trucks and other types of vehicles. One of the new manufacturing facilities that the company is planning spreads over 100 acres. Workers there will be producing passenger cars and commercial vehicles for the world market and for India specifically.

When you visit your local Mercedes-Benz dealer, you can get a quality luxury vehicle for a great price. Whether you’re in India, North America or any other part of the world, you can be sure that the name “Mercedes-Benz” means quality and comfort. See what I mean today!