J�rgen Schrempp: Created an empire he cannot control?

He suggested the car be named after his daughter, Mercedes, and, as they say, a legend was born.

The first cars to carry the Mercedes star badge cost the equivalent of around a hundred thousand dollars each in today's money.

Two years ago Daimler Benz merged with the Chrysler car company in America, turning the Stuttgart-based firm into a global giant.

Investors sue

But since then the trans-Atlantic deal has turned sour.

Mounting losses at Chrysler are threatening a crisis which could yet overshadow Mercedes' jubilee celebrations.

Critics say the company's German boss J�rgen Schrempp has created an empire he cannot control.

In America he's being sued by investors for allegedly lying to shareholders about the merger.

But none of this has taken the shine off Mercedes Benz.

With record profits this year and six and a half million customers, it is the undisputed jewel in the DaimlerChrysler crown.

Opponents of the company's expansion strategy believe that jewel would have been better off on its own.