Zhang Junyi on Bertha Benz’s Journey and Early Automotive History

In October 2023, Zhang Xiaojun began an automotive-history series with automotive consultant and investor Zhang Junyi, starting with Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler, and Bertha Benz in the late nineteenth century. The episode image is dated October 15, 2023.

They start with Karl Benz’s three-wheeled motor vehicle and its 1886 patent. Zhang stresses that the automotive industry built on earlier technologies such as engines and cannot be understood through one inventor alone.

He describes Benz as an engineer and serial entrepreneur whose early machinery work and engine research preceded the development of a complete vehicle.

The conversation also mentions Daimler’s contemporaneous work on engines and vehicles. Their businesses later merged, but early automobile development followed more than one path.

Zhang argues that many early automotive founders brought engineering experience from outside the car industry, giving them manufacturing skills they could apply in a new field.

He points to Stuttgart and other German automotive centers as examples of the relationship between local manufacturing traditions and the development of car brands.

On Bertha Benz, the speakers recall her long-distance drive with her children. Zhang sees the journey as both a demonstration of the vehicle and an example of her support for the venture.

They mention obtaining fuel and dealing with problems along the way. Automotive infrastructure was far less developed than today, so real use exposed needs for improvement.

Britain’s “Red Flag” rules provide an example of tensions between new vehicles and existing road use. Zhang says early motor traffic faced restrictions involving speed and escorts.

He also mentions Bertha’s financial and practical involvement, inviting listeners to notice women’s contributions to automotive history rather than crediting invention to one man alone.

Early vehicles were expensive and tended to reach wealthy buyers. The speakers mention Ford’s later role in making cars more widely available through scale, a subject for a future episode.

The Daimler story introduces the Mercedes name: Zhang says the needs of an early customer and dealer influenced the naming of a vehicle and brand.

From carriages to motor vehicles, bodywork, propulsion, and controls were repeatedly reorganized. Zhang uses the transition to illustrate how a change in core propulsion technology can force suppliers and companies to adapt.

He describes the early Benz vehicle’s open body, three wheels, flywheel, and transmission. It looked very different from a modern car but represented a key step in putting an engine on a vehicle.

The conversation returns to Bertha’s journey with her children. Zhang argues that demonstrations, hands-on use, and early users’ feedback help people understand new technology.

He distinguishes historical significance from the market size of the time: early vehicles were few, and later changes in production and price made cars accessible to a broader population.

The Benz and Daimler companies merged in 1926. Zhang adds that automotive brands and companies have continually emerged, declined, merged, and reorganized over more than a century.

Comparing contemporary electric vehicles, he argues that new entrants need to understand batteries and critical supply chains and differentiate through technology and products. This was his industry assessment in 2023.

They discuss corporate mergers and brand portfolios. Zhang says economic pressures, technology, and the search for synergies can motivate collaboration, though each transaction has its own circumstances.

The guest recounts an anecdote about a car given to Empress Dowager Cixi and a conflict between court protocol and driving arrangements. The episode does not independently verify its details.

He summarizes early cars as relatively handmade, costly, and used by few people. Manufacturers improved braking and steering through use while roads and rules developed alongside them.

They also mention French manufacturers and motor racing. Zhang argues that demands for performance and safety encouraged changes in technology and vehicle design.

Why did internal combustion become widespread in that era? Zhang discusses fuel availability, cost, efficiency, and usability, while mentioning early steam and electric alternatives.

A central point is that technical choices must be understood in their historical conditions: materials, infrastructure, and costs change, and an approach once at a disadvantage can develop again under new conditions.

Cars improved in control and comfort while also creating demand for fueling, repairs, and road services. New products and their surrounding ecosystems often evolve together.

The speakers discuss family-business succession. Zhang says brand continuity requires attention to ownership and management and cannot assume that each generation has the same skills or interests.

He calls the car a machine that changed society: propulsion, mobility, and related industries together affected the economy and everyday life, making automotive history more than a list of models.

They compare early premium cars with later mass-market products, discussing the relationship between production scale, price, and brand positioning.

Zhang argues that exchanges among partners and cross-industry experience can generate new products. A founder’s prior experience matters, but background alone does not determine success.

Beyond founders, he emphasizes professional managers’ roles in continuity and transformation, using Ford and Chrysler to illustrate the different capabilities required at different times.

Car groups may merge for technology and scale or separate businesses to give them independent resources. Zhang uses company restructurings of the period to show how organizational structure follows strategy.

The host asks whether modern Chinese car founders also design for family members. Zhang discusses seating, lighting, and the in-car experience, emphasizing needs beyond technical specifications.

On brand names, he says a founder’s image can help communication, but product functions and service must match the brand promise. This is his business observation.

Finally, Zhang imagines intelligence and autonomous driving redefining vehicles and mobility. He presents these as long-term possibilities and acknowledges that near-term change may be less dramatic.