Munich — Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche stood on a stage in 2011 surrounded by milestones of Mercedes-Benz’s 125-year history. Dressed in a sombre dark-grey suit with a light-blue tie knotted tightly at his neck, he tentatively directed attention to the brand’s future with the revival of founder Gottlieb Daimler’s motto, "the best or nothing". At that time the gesture seemed desperate. Mercedes’s image was dowdy. Global deliveries had trailed archrival BMW since 2005 and were time dropping below Audi’s. But fast forward five years — the blink of an eye for a car company — and Daimler’s flagship division has been reborn. In 2016, Mercedes retook the luxury-car crown from BMW for the first time in more than a decade, as peppy new models like the GLA compact SUV wooed new, younger buyers and the S-Class was re-established as the benchmark luxury sedan. Zetsche appears rejuvenated. Embodying Mercedes’s makeover, the 63-year-old has ditched his saggy suits and stiff ties for an ocean-blue bl...
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