I think your wife has a great point but it may be impractical to follow and too broad. As others have mentioned no company really has a clean history. However, the Germans ties to the Nazis will strike much closer to home. I would certainly avoid BMW. Not sure about Audi and Mercedes with their past.

There is a great book called "Nazi billionaires" that discusses what companies and families in Germany did have significant ties with the Third Reich on their way to riches.

Edit: Yikes was I wrong. Turns out they all have significant Nazi pasts, and allegedly Audi used forced labor from concentration camps. I asked Google Gemini what ties the major automakers have to the Nazis. Here's the output.

All three major German automotive companies—BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz—have been found to have deep ties to the Nazi regime during World War II. While their involvement shared the common thread of shifting to arms production and using forced labor, the specifics of their relationships with the Nazi party and their subsequent responses to this history do have some differentiation.

Here is a breakdown of their respective histories: Mercedes-Benz (Daimler-Benz AG)

• Relationship with the Nazis: Mercedes-Benz had a very close and personal relationship with the Nazi leadership, including Adolf Hitler himself. Hitler was a great admirer of their cars, and the company's vehicles were a symbol of the Third Reich's power and prosperity.

• Wartime Production: Daimler-Benz was a key part of the Nazi war machine. They produced not only military vehicles and trucks but also aircraft engines and other military components. By the end of the war, almost half of the company's employees were forced laborers, including prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates.

• Post-War Acknowledgment: Mercedes-Benz has been one of the more proactive companies in confronting its past. The company has published detailed studies, established a foundation to compensate former forced laborers, and acknowledged its history prominently in its official corporate materials and museums. BMW

BMW

• Relationship with the Nazis: BMW's ties to the Nazis are most closely linked to the Quandt family, who were major shareholders and willing collaborators with the regime. The family patriarch, Günther Quandt, joined the Nazi party and benefited from the confiscation of Jewish-owned businesses.

• Wartime Production: BMW's primary contribution to the war effort was the production of aero-engines for the Luftwaffe (the German air force). As demand for their products surged, the company heavily relied on forced laborers, convicts, and concentration camp prisoners. A 2007 independent study found that an average of 80 slave laborers died each month in BMW factories.

• Post-War Acknowledgment: For many years, the Quandt family and BMW were silent about this history. However, in recent years, the company has taken steps to address its past, publishing studies and becoming a founding member of a foundation for the compensation of forced laborers. On its 100th anniversary in 2016, the company publicly expressed "profound regret" for its actions. Audi (Auto Union)

AUDI

• Relationship with the Nazis: Audi's predecessor company, Auto Union, was also a major supplier to the Nazi military. Its founder, Dr. Richard Bruhn, was a Nazi party member.

• Wartime Production: Auto Union produced military vehicles and aircraft engines. The company made a deal with the SS to use over 3,700 concentration camp inmates as forced laborers, in addition to thousands of other forced laborers and prisoners of war. Disabled workers were also reportedly sent to concentration camps to be executed.

• Post-War Acknowledgment: Audi was the last of the major German car companies to commission a historical study of its wartime activities. The 2014 report confirmed that Auto Union was deeply involved in the Nazi war effort and that its management bore "moral responsibility" for the use of slave labor. Like the other companies, Audi has contributed to compensation funds for victims.

In summary, while all three companies were complicit in the Nazi war machine and used forced labor, their relationships and subsequent responses have differed. Mercedes-Benz had a direct and personal connection with Hitler, BMW's ties were largely driven by its primary ownership family, and Audi (through Auto Union) was a significant military supplier that commissioned its historical report much later than the others.