What's in a name? For Daimler, its future

By Michael Shields

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The ill-fated merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler in 1998 will officially fade into history's rear-view mirror on Thursday if shareholders approve changing the German carmaker's name to just Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

But the seemingly straightforward effort to erase Chrysler from the corporate identity and focus on the group's roots has evoked strong emotions in the German heartland, which never warmed to the DaimlerChrysler name in the first place.

Management and the supervisory board want a one-line change in the statutes to read: "The name of the corporation is Daimler AG. The registered office of the corporation is in Stuttgart."

It seems sure to pass, even though adherents of German automotive pioneer Carl Friedrich Benz, whose company merged with that of Gottlieb Daimler in 1926, are outraged that their man has -- again -- been dropped from the corporate masthead.

"A return to including the name of one of the founders, Benz, would ... constitute a certain degree of compensation for the many years of frustration for the employees, particularly in the traditional Benz plants, who deserve to find equal recognition...as the employees of the Daimler plants," shareholder Bernd Gans has submitted as a counterproposal.

Hans Diem, another shareholder, has asked the extraordinary meeting in Berlin to name the group Daimler-Benz AG, Benz-Daimler AG, or simply Benz AG.

"Problems might arise in connection with a change of name to Daimler AG because there is a vehicle manufacturer in England that has a license to use Daimler as the name of its vehicles," he added, referring to the nameplate on high-end Jaguar cars.

Benz AG also had a real ring for shareholder Wilm Diedrich Mueller.