One of Mercedes-Benz's founders is widely regarded as inventing the first automobile – the 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen. In 1926 the inventor, Karl Benz, merged his company with Gottlieb Daimler to form Daimler-Benz. This company then built 'Mercedes-Benz' branded cars.

The German company is famous for building a wide range of premium cars and current models include the Mercedes-Benz C-Class saloon, the larger E-Class saloon and the compact A-Class hatchback.

The iconic three-pointed star logo has adorned many famous Mercedes-Benz cars including the S-Class limousine, the SLK sports car and 4x4s with the M-Class and GL-Class. Mercedes has also launched cars that defy normal convention such as the four-door coupe CLS and the CLS Shooting Brake estate.

The German company also builds high performance versions of its cars dubbed 'AMG' including the C-Class AMG, E-Class AMG, S-Class AMG, A-Class AMG and SLK AMG. In fact, pretty much all of Mercedes passenger cars have received the AMG treatment. There is also a range of van-based passenger cars including the V-Class.