Crossword Genius

German car gives way by sea at Dunkirk (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mercedes

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'german car' is the definition.
'mercedes' can be an answer for 'car' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'german' bit.

'gives way by sea at dunkirk' is the wordplay.
'gives way' becomes 'cedes' (I've seen this before).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'sea at dunkirk' becomes 'mer' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'cedes' after 'mer' is 'MERCEDES'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mercedes that I've seen before include "Car firm" , "Butterfly" , "International company" .)

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