Re: I do believe
A man named Alfred Vacheron is credited with first using the steering wheel in a Panhard et Levassor car in 1894. It was modeled after a ship's wheel, as tillers were becoming more and more ineffective, especially for the racing applications that Vacheron first used the wheel for.
Charles Stewart Rolls imported a Panhard into England and began using them on his cars the year after that.
FWIW, Mercedes does not claim the steering wheel as one of its innovations (including inventing the automobile itself.)