Three–pointed star. Magic. Mystique. Mercedes–Benz. Enduring Passion is the story of a brand. A brand that has survived mergers, crises and war to become the choice of today’s presidents and kings, with a symbol more widely recognised than the Christian cross. This book is informed by the very latest brand thinking. It is thorough, honest and sometimes critical. This is the story of Mercedes–Benz. Beginning with Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler’s parallel invention of the car in 1886, Enduring Passion charts how the rival marques grew separately for 40 years before merging in 1926. Brand expert Leslie Butterfield then traces the development of Mercedes–Benz through the Nazi years to its near–destruction in 1945, its post–war rebirth, and its fall from grace in the early 1990s. How its managers reacted to the crisis at that time shapes what Mercedes–Benz is today. Pivotal moments like the A–Class ‘Elk test’, the merger with Chrysler and the management changes at...