With only a 19,9 per cent stake in Chrysler after selling most of its stake to Cerberus Capital Management in August this year, DaimlerChrysler AG has recently held a milestone meeting in which the company name has been changed to Daimler AG.

DaimlerChrysler AG's extraordinary shareholders' meeting of was held earlier this week, in which 98,76 per cent voted in favour of the name Daimler AG. All production plants and sales organisations belonging to the company around the world will also be renamed.

This re-naming process comes after strong sales figures were reported for Mercedes-Benz and its parent company. Strong sales of the new C-Class saloon helped boost company sales, which stand at 124 600 units sold during September. These figures show a seven per cent increase compared to this time last year.

Dr Dieter Zetsche told shareholders that they "are writing a new chapter of our history, while at the same time continuing (their) tradition as the inventor of the automobile."

To honour one of the carmaker's founders, Karl Friedrich Benz, there has been an agreement that what is known as the Mercedes Car Group will be renamed Mercedes-Benz Cars. Benz' company merged with that of Gottlieb Daimler in the 1920's, but his name was dropped from the official title seven years ago after the company merged with Chrysler.

"The proud name of Benz will not only remain prominent, it will have significantly higher visibility," said CEO Dieter Zetsche.

Benz & Cie was founded in 1871 and became one of Karl Benz' most important companies. Daimler Motren Gesellschaft (DMG) was founded in 1890 by Gottlieb Daimler and his partner Wilhelm Maybach.

In 1924 owing to economic difficulties after WWI, Benz & Cie. and DMG who until then had been in competition with one another, ventured into an "Agreement of Mutual Interest." This merger established the company as Daimler-Benz, but because the name Daimler was was licensed to be used on other vehicles in Europe, Daimler-Benz was not available for use on vehicles. The brand name became known as Mercedes-Benz.

In 1998, Daimler-Benz and Chrysler entered into one of the most notable collaborations in automotive history, widely referred to as the "merger of equals." The new company was named DaimlerChrysler AG and heralded a wealth of technology-sharing that ended with the majority share takeover of Chrysler earlier this year.

Now officially trading as Daimler AG, the company hopes to get a fresh start and establish itself under a new identity.