1907: World First AWD Passenger Car
Dernburg-Wagen from Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft

• 100 years ago: The “Dernburg-Wagen” features all-wheel-drive and even all-wheel steering
• Highly sophisticated design by Paul Daimler
• Everyday use in the colony of German South-West Africa, today’s Namibia

The first all-wheel-drive car for everyday use was built by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) in 1907. The "Dernburg-Wagen", as it was known, even featured all-wheel steering. It is called after the then Secretary of State Bernhard Dernburg who drove many a kilometer in it in Africa the following year.

In fact the all-wheel-drive history of the company began slightly earlier, in 1903, when Paul Daimler laid the foundations for this technology with a first design draft. The first all-wheel-drive vehicle appeared in 1904, and was quickly followed by others. Since then, the watchword has been that all-wheel drive is the best technology when it comes to better traction and safe, assured progress. Over the decades it has been successfully used in all kinds of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, both passenger cars and commercial vehicles, and from vans to heavy-duty trucks. Some of these models, for example the G-Class or the Unimog, have gained a legendary worldwide reputation, and are to be found virtually everywhere on earth. All-wheel drive also scores heavily in day-to-day driving on normal roads, however, as the Mercedes-Benz saloons with 4MATIC demonstrate.

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