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August Horch founded August Horch & Cie. in 1904, but after a dispute with the board, he left and founded a second company in 1909. Unable to use his own surname for the new company, he chose Audi, the Latin translation of "horch" (meaning "listen"). Both Horch and Audi would later be among the four rings of Auto Union.
Auto Union was formed in 1932 as a merger of Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer. The four-ring logo represents these four founding companies. Auto Union Grand Prix cars, with their mid-engine layouts and supercharged V12 and V16 engines, were among the most technologically advanced racers of the 1930s.
After World War II, Auto Union was restructured, and the modern Audi emerged from the wreckage in Ingolstadt. The 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 revived the brand name. Volkswagen acquired Auto Union in 1965 and later merged it with NSU, forming the modern Audi AG.
The Audi 80 (1972) and Audi 100 (1968) established the brand as a manufacturer of solid, well-engineered cars. The 1980 Audi Quattro revolutionized rallying with all-wheel drive, a technology that became synonymous with the brand. Audi has since become a core premium brand within the Volkswagen Group, competing with BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
The Audi Quattro (1980) was the first mass-produced all-wheel-drive turbocharged performance car. It won the World Rally Championship in 1982 and 1984, transforming the sport and permanently associating Audi with AWD.
Audi introduced the first production five-cylinder engine in the 1976 Audi 100, a configuration that became a signature of the brand through the Quattro and into the 1990s.
The Audi Space Frame (ASF) aluminum body construction, first used on the 1994 Audi A8, reduced weight by approximately 40 percent compared to a conventional steel body.
The Audi R8 (2006) was the brand's first production mid-engine sports car, and its V10 engine from Lamborghini lineage gave it genuine supercar credentials.
The e-tron GT (2021) shares its J1 platform with the Porsche Taycan and uses 800-volt architecture, one of only two production EVs at launch (alongside the Taycan) with this capability.
August Horch founded Audi Automobilwerke GmbH in Zwickau after leaving his original company, choosing the Latin translation of his surname.
Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer merged to form Auto Union, with the four-ring logo appearing for the first time.
The Audi Quattro was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, introducing turbocharged all-wheel drive to production cars and dominating world rallying.
The Audi A8 flagship sedan introduced the aluminum Audi Space Frame, a weight-saving innovation that persisted through multiple generations.
The mid-engine R8 became Audi first true supercar, establishing a Motorsport-derived halo for the brand.
How the platform works for buyers and dealers