Thursday 12th November 1998

Daimler-Benz completed a merger with Chrysler to form Daimler-Chrysler. The merger was contentious, with investors launching lawsuits over whether the transaction was the ‘merger of equals’ that senior management claimed or actually amounted to a Daimler-Benz takeover of Chrysler. Daimler-Chrysler appeared to run as two independent product lines until 2002 when the company launched products that integrated both sides of the company, including the Chrysler Crossfire, which was based on the Mercedes SLK platform and utilised Mercedes’ 3.2L V6, and the Dodge Sprinter/Freightliner Sprinter, a re-badged Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. They demerged in 2007 when Daimler agreed to sell the Chrysler unit to Cerberus Capital Management for $6 billion.