Jeep is an automobile marque (and registered trademark) of DaimlerChrysler. The marque, like all other Chrysler subsidiaries, became part of DaimlerChrysler when Daimler-Benz merged with the Chrysler Corporation in 1998. Jeep, like Band-Aid and Xerox, is a genericized trademark. Unlike Band-Aid and Xerox, however, the name jeep did not start out as a trademark. The term was first applied to a military vehicle, the Bantam BRC, versions of which were produced by Willys-Overland and Ford Motor Company for the Allies during World War II. The term is also used to refer generically to what are now known as SUVs, whether the vehicle in question bears the Jeep nameplate or not.