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.

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.