Audi

History

Audi did not have a glorious history. It was formed by four small car makers, Audi, Horch, Wanderer and DKW in 1932. The company was named "Auto Union", with a company logo consisting of 4 rings, which represent the four companies. The logo is still used today.

Although Auto Union was described as the "second largest car maker in Germany", in then mass production was not yet appeared there, unlike USA, France and Italy. The Auto Union concentrated on making luxurious cars in limited amount, and took part in motoring racing with a mid-engined GP car designed by Ferdinand Porsche. In circuit it was beaten by Mercedes-Benz, as in road car production.

The road car division was really weak, not just in terms of output but also in terms of reputation. Open any classic car book and you can hardly find a single Auto Union car. In fact, it still produced cars powered by 2-stroke engines until the 60?s.

It was acquired by Daimler-Benz in the 50?s but not much was done. Volkswagen bought it in the mid-60?s, enlarging its factory to build popular Beetle. More money was invested to develop a new four stroke engine and new cars. Further helped by the integration of NSU, which was renowned for engineering innovation and merged with Auto Union to form Audi NSU in 1969 after bankrupted, Audi developed the first mass production models, 80 and then 100. The latter set a production record of over 800,000 units since its introduction in 1976.

The 80 and 100 continued to evolve into today?s A4 and A6, but it was not as easy as thought. Until the mid 90?s, Audi was regarded as lack of a distinctive identity - neither bread and butter nor prestigious. The invention of Quattro in 1980 would have built a solid sporty image, but the mass production, front-wheel-drive models failed to impress keen drivers. Volkswagen wasted a lot of money and effort to put the company onto rails, first with improved build quality, then introduced a V6 and V8, and then even more advanced technology.

In 1985, Audi NSU was renamed to simply Audi AG.