See "List of assigned /8 blocks to commercial organizations" at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assigned_/8_IPv4_addre...

Mercedes-Benz isn't the only corporation with its own /8 block - although it is the only non-US one; and it's a pretty small exclusive list, only six in total. I guess someone at Mercedes-Benz just happened to hear about this Internet thing relatively early (53.0.0.0/8 was registered Oct 1993 according to Wikipedia - the relevant European authority, RIPE NCC, was only founded in Apr 1992), and/or happened to have a buddy at IANA / RIPE NCC, and the rest is history.

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