In President Barack Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress earlier this week he said the U.S., as inventors of the automobile, needed to give support to U.S. automakers. But it turns out that’s not historically accurate.

On Tuesday, the president said, “I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it,” a statement that has been critiqued not for its promise of spending, but for its accuracy.

Although American Henry Ford helped to bring the automobile to the masses in the 1890s, it is widely accepted that a German, Karl Benz (of Mercedes-Benz fame) invented the combustion-powered vehicle in 1885 that led to the cars we see on roads today.

The carmaker Daimler, which was born from the work of Benz and fellow German Gottlieb Daimler, says the president needs to brush up on his auto history.

“It’s a fact that Daimler invented the car,” Han Tjan, U.S. spokesman for the company told USA Today. “If someone says the U.S. invented the car, either it’s an incomplete statement or sloppy research.”

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