After decades of silence, the CEO of Mercedes-Benz has finally addressed the company’s deeply uncomfortable history with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime—a history that has long cast a shadow over the brand’s reputation for engineering excellence. The revelations are stark and challenge the sanitized image many have of the luxury automaker.
Mercedes-Benz, then known as Daimler-Benz, was more than just a bystander during the Nazi era. Before World War II, the company provided Hitler with dealer discounts, and its luxury vehicles became the preferred mode of transport for the Nazi elite, including Hitler, Hermann Göring, and Heinrich Himmler. The Mercedes-Benz 770, or “Großer Mercedes,” was famously used by Hitler for parades and public appearances, its imposing size and engineering prowess serving as a symbol of power for the regime.
But the company’s involvement went far beyond selling cars to the Nazis. Once the war began, Daimler-Benz’s production lines were almost entirely dedicated to manufacturing for the Nazi war effort. The company produced engines for German aircraft, tanks, and submarines, as well as military trucks and parts for Mauser rifles. More disturbingly, Daimler-Benz relied on forced labor, including over 60,000 concentration camp prisoners and other coerced workers, to build machinery and vehicles for the Third Reich.
After the war, Daimler-Benz openly admitted its links and coordination with the Nazi government, later participating in initiatives to support survivors and acknowledge its role. However, the brand’s association with Hitler’s infamous cars and the wider Nazi war machine is a reality that cannot be erased. The company’s leadership has now publicly recognized this chapter, calling it a “responsibility” that Mercedes-Benz must never forget.
This reckoning is not just about a car—it’s about the ethical legacy of one of the world’s most respected automakers. The truth is clear: Mercedes-Benz’s rise to global prominence is inseparable from its complicity in one of history’s darkest periods. The company’s recent acknowledgment is a step toward transparency, but it also serves as a reminder that even the most celebrated brands can have deeply troubling pasts that must be confronted, not concealed.