problems of the day, in 1919, Benz & Cie. proposed a merger, but DMG formally rejected it in December. Then, as the German crisis worsened, the struggling firms met again in 1924 and signed an Agreement of Mutual Interest, valid until the year 2000. They standardized design, production, purchasing, sales, and advertising—marketing their car models jointly—although keeping their respective brands. On June 28, 1926, DMG and Benz & Cie. merged into Daimler-Benz AG, establishing its headquarters in the Untertürkheim factory. Unable to use Daimler on all their products their automobiles were branded Mercedes Benz in honour of DMG's most successful car model and the last name of Karl Benz. Its new trademark consisted of a three-pointed star surrounded by the traditional laurels of Karl Benz's logo and labelled Mercedes Benz. The next year, 1927, the number of units sold tripled to 7,918, and diesel truck production was launched. Trivia In 1890, DMG was delivering stationary and marine engines to Russia. In 1910, it opened its first dealership in Moscow. From 1912, it was a purveyor to the Russian Royal Court. Even after the war and the socialist revolution, the Mercedes won most of the great show competitions it entered in Russia. In 1892, DMG designated Otto Speidel as its Munich representative. In 1896, Bavarian Engine & Automobile also began to sell their products, naming Karl Moll as representative in 1898. In 1910, it opened a shop for trucks, buses and motorboats in Hiltenspergerstrasse 21. In 1914, in Paris, one of the greatest races in history took place, with 37 cars of six manufacturers from six countries. To beat the favorite Peugeot team, DMG used an aircraft engine designed by Paul Daimler and Fritz Nallinger. It was built by the automobile department but tested by the airship department. The cars produced at 3100 rpm (no Mercedes had exceeded 1,500 rpm before then). It had four steel cylinders (M93654), and sixteen valves, an aluminum crankcase, crankshafts of special Austrian steel, a single camshaft, and displaced 4,483 cc. In 1921, DMG presented the supercharged Mercedes Kompressormotor, successful in both the private market and on the race track. See also List of Mercedes-Benz vehicles References Sources Wise, David Burgess. "Daimler: Founder of the Four-Wheeler", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles, Volume 5, pp. 481–483. London: Orbis, 1974. German companies established in 1890 1926 disestablishments in Germany Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1890 Vehicle