Mercedes and perfection have often been used as synonyms. Despite the challenge from the East and the continuing competition from the West, Mercedes has maintained its reputation of one of the best cars in the world.

One reason for this is the amount of time, money and effort put in by Daimler Benz in crafting its products. It runs a research and technology Centre at Palo Alto, California. Its site at www.rtna.daimlerbenz.com gives a fair picture of the work done by the centre.

The centre is involved in original research and promoting research with universities. The centre works with new technologies like the global positioning system which allows an automobile to mark its position on a digital map.