Under the programmatic term product drive, Mercedes-Benz evolved during the 1990s from a brand essentially supported by three passenger car series to a manufacturer with a comprehensive product portfolio. In addition to the C-, E- and S-Class, new market segments as being tapped by the A-, ML-, SLK- and CLK-Class models. The company grew and the value world of the Mercedes-Benz brand became ever more complex. Efforts on the part of the Mercedes-Benz design team to keep the brand intact by means of horizontal homogeneity and to keep the diversity of the product range manageable were initially perceived by sections of the public as not entirely logical. Irritations also found there way into reports in the media. Fears were expressed that Mercedes-Benz’s brand values could become overstretched.

The launch of product drive II in 2005 succeeded in resolving the complexity issue by creating a simple and distinctive overall appearance for the brand. It gained a historically significant dimension. The market launches of the B- and R-Class, and of the CLS- and the GL-Class, silenced the critics. Mercedes-Benz designers succeeded in creating a clear visualization of the brand-typical desire for perfection across all model series – most impressively, perhaps, in the sculptured form of the Mercedes-Benz CLS. This unique four-seater successfully combined two distinct personalities within a single elegant automobile: the functionality of a sedan with the charisma of a coupe.