Daimler to be officially rebranded as Mercedes-Benz on February 1

Daimler AG will be renamed as Mercedes-Benz Group AG on February 1 as a move which the company head expects will unlock shareholder value for the luxury carmaker. This rebranding is the latest change in the recent reshuffles by the automaker that began its journey as Daimler-Benz AG in 1926. According to a Reuters report, the Mercedes brand, named after the daughter of an automobile entrepreneur, was officially adopted by Daimler AG in 1902.

Chief Executive Officer Ola Kaellenius reinstated the move with a statement conveying this step will give the company a real chance to raise the multiple. Though, he refrained from stating a specific target valuation for the firm which is currently worth just under 77 billion euros ($85.70 billion).

However, analysts seem to be divided on this as they feel a premium carmaker battling over the luxury market, by definition small and finite, could only grow so much. European auto analyst at RBC Capital Markets Tom Narayan said, “Investors could start viewing Mercedes as a Lucid Motors or Tesla type and start to give it an EV (electric vehicle) multiple." Narayan added Lucid and Tesla started with a cent per cent EV, however, Mercedes it will have to convert its ICE vehicles into EVs first. “That may be a limitation on how far the multiple could go near-term," Narayan stated.

Mercedes-Benz has been aggressively focusing on electrification as a recent report had stated that it is aiming to produce its own next-generation powertrains for electric vehicles from 2024. The report added that the luxury automaker’s upcoming MMA and MB.EA electric architectures will be designed in-house and the automaker will also develop powertrains on its own. Head of Development at Daimler, Markus Schaefer had said, “We want to control the overall system of electric motor, battery, and power electronics as much as possible, similar to what is the case with the combustion engine."