Audi's logo is four rings, representing the four pre-merger companies - Audi and Horch Automobile Company, Wanderer Automobile Company (Wanderer) and DKW Automobile Company , these four automobile companies merged into Auto Union AG in 1932. Auto Union GmbH and NSU GmbH merged in 1969 to form Audi NSU Auto Union AG; in 1985, the company was renamed AUDI AG. The headquarters moved to Ingolstadt, and the four-ring logo is still used today.

Part One (Before the War)

The German Audi company has a long and varied history, with its history of manufacturing cars and motorcycles dating back to the 19th century. Four car companies were originally located in Saxony - Audi and Horch in Zwickau, Wanderer in Chemnitz-Siegmar (Wanderer) and the DKW Automobile Company in Zschopau made outstanding contributions to the progress of the German automobile industry at that time. These four automobile companies merged into Auto Union AG (hereinafter referred to as Auto Union) in 1932. In terms of automobile production, Auto Union was the second largest automobile manufacturing company in Germany at the time. The product logo was four connected rings, representing the four automobile companies participating in the merger.

After World War II, Auto Union's automobile manufacturing plant in Saxony was confiscated and demolished by the former Soviet occupation forces. After that, many of the company's senior staff went to Bavaria and established Auto Union GmbH in Ingolstadt in 1949. It inherited the tradition of the old Auto Union and still has four A chain as a symbol.

Auto Union GmbH and NSU GmbH merged in 1969 to form Audi NSU Auto Union AG; in 1985, the company was renamed Audi Joint Stock Company (AUDI AG), its headquarters moved to Ingolstadt, and the four-ring logo is still in use today.

Horch

August Horch is one of the pioneers of the German automobile industry and the founder of Audi. Horch graduated from a technical college in the town of Mittweida, Saxony. August Horch showed his potential in automobile development from a very young age. His main strengths were technological innovation, as well as amazing determination and will, which laid the foundation for the development of automotive technology.

He started working in the engine manufacturing department of Carl Benz in Mannheim and later became general manager of the automobile manufacturing department. In 1899, Horch decided to set up his own company and established Horch & Cie in Cologne. In Germany, Horch was the first person to apply cast aluminum technology to the manufacture of automobile engine and gearbox casings, as well as the production of cardan shafts and high-strength steel gears for power transmission components. In 1902, Horch moved the company to Reichenbach, Saxony, and then to Zwickau in 1904. In 1903 the company began producing two-cylinder engine cars. After moving to Zwickau, the company began producing cars with four-cylinder engines. This type of car had excellent performance, and in 1906 it won the championship in the Herkomer Run, the toughest and longest car rally in the world at the time. Two years later, Horch's annual sales exceeded 100 vehicles for the first time.

Due to differences with the board of directors and the supervisory board, August Horch left the Horch company he founded in 1909 and immediately established another automobile company in Zwickau.

Since the name "Horch" has been used by the original company and has been registered as a trademark, Horch translated his name into the Latin "Audi" ("Audi" and "Horch" have the same meaning as "listening" ), so the new company got the name Audi.

August Horch moved to Berlin in the 1920s, was appointed to the Supervisory Board of Auto Union in 1932, and continued to participate in the company's technical development work as an expert. In 1944, he left Berlin and came to the Saale region. It was in Münchberg in Upper Franconia that Horch spent his final years and died in 1951 at the age of 83.

In the initial period after Horch himself left, Horch could only produce a limited number of models, and it failed to surpass its founder in technology and design. After World War I, the Argus-Werke Company, which specialized in producing aircraft engines, merged with the Horch Company to form the new Horch-Werke Company. Two of the most famous engineers, Arnold Zoller and later Paul Daimler (son of Gottlieb Daimler), were later promoted to Horch-Welker in Zwickau. The company's chief designer.

In the autumn of 1926, the Horch-Welke company exhibited the Horch 8, an eight-cylinder engine car developed by Paul Daimler. The car attracted attention with its powerful engine capabilities, reliable performance and refined body shape, setting the standard for its competitors. Since then, Horch 8 has become synonymous with elegance, luxury and the highest standards in the automotive manufacturing industry.

In the autumn of 1931, Horch-Welke showed its latest product at the Paris Motor Show - a car painted in dazzling yellow with a brown soft top and green leather interior. Decorated, sports roadster equipped with a 12-cylinder engine. From 1932 to 1934, only 80 units of this luxurious Horch car were sold. Although the demand for luxury cars began to decline, Horch Cars still occupied a leading position in the luxury car market, selling one third more cars than its competitors combined: in 1932, for example, Horch Cars sold 773 luxury cars in Germany , and exported approximately 300 vehicles. However, the company still encountered financial difficulties, mainly caused by funding problems in the sales process.

Audi

In 1910, the first Audi brand car produced by Audi, a new company founded by Mr. Horch, appeared on the market. Between 1912 and 1914, Audi cars won special acclaim by winning consecutive championships in the International Austrian Alpine Rally, recognized as the toughest long-distance car rally in the world. After World War I, Audi pioneered the left-hand steering wheel technology and moved the gear lever to the middle of the car, making driving more convenient. Since then, Audi has stood out among many car brands.

In 1923, the first six-cylinder Audi car came out. The car had an air filter, which was the first of its kind at the time. A few years later, air filters became a must-have in cars. At the same time, Audi is the first German automobile manufacturer to apply the hydraulic four-wheel braking system exclusively designed and manufactured by Audi. In 1927, Audi chief designer Heinrich Schuh brought the first Audi eight-cylinder car called the "Imperator" to the market. Unfortunately, the luxury car was launched at a time when the luxury car market was in rapid decline.

DKW

J?rgen Skafte Rasmussen was born in Denmark and studied engineering in Mittweida , established his first company in Saxony after graduation. In 1904 he established a plant engineering company in Chemnitz.

Three years later he came to Zschopau in the Erzgebirge region and from 1916 began experiments with steam-powered automobiles. Although no special vehicle was produced from these experiments, the company decided on its name as DKW - short for Dampf Kraft Wagen. In 1919, Rasmussen obtained the design of a two-stroke engine from Hugo Ruppe, a miniature version of a toy engine called "Des Knaben Wunsch" (meaning "Boy's Dream"). This miniature engine catered to the needs of high-end consumers and was used as an auxiliary stroke engine and was improved into the "Das kleine Wunder" (Little Miracle) motorcycle engine in 1922. With the efforts of Rasmussen, manager Carl and chief designer Hermann Weber, DKW became the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer in the 1920s, and also became the world's leading engine manufacturer.

In 1927, Rasmussen obtained 6-cylinder and 8-cylinder engine designs and production equipment from the Detroit Automobile Company, and then launched new Audi cars equipped with these two engines. But the luxury car market was declining rapidly, and Rasmussen realized this development trend and began to turn to the manufacture of small cars. DKW's earliest cars were rear-wheel drive and built in Berlin-Spandau. In late 1930, Rasmussen commissioned the Zwickau factory to develop a car with the following design: a two-cylinder, two-stroke motorcycle engine with a capacity of 600cc, a one-piece wooden chassis with leather trim, front and rear oscillating axles, and front-wheel drive. A car designed by Audi designers Walter Haustein and Oskar Arlt that met the above requirements was named the DKW Front and caused a sensation when it debuted at the 1931 Berlin Motor Show. The DKW Front was produced at the Audi factory and was Germany's most produced and popular small car at the time.

Wanderer

The use of the name Wanderer can be traced back to 1896, and is related to the bicycles manufactured by the Winklhofer & Jaenicke factory in Chemnitz in 1885. . Wanderer began producing motorcycles in 1902, and produced its first automobile in 1904. In 1913, Wanderer began mass-producing a small car called the "Puppchen", which was loved by the public. But it wasn't until the W10 Wanderer, equipped with a 30-horsepower 1.5-liter engine, debuted in 1926 that the second generation of the small car hit the market. This model integrated all the latest developments in the world's automobile industry at that time, such as left-hand steering wheel, central gear lever, multi-purpose dry plate clutch, integral cast-cylinder engine and gearbox, and four-wheel braking system, etc., and was very popular in the market. , supply exceeds demand. In order to cope with the situation of insufficient supply and demand, the company established a new automobile manufacturing plant in the suburb of Chemnitz in the city of Siegmar. Auto parts continue to be produced at the original plant and then shipped by rail to the new plant. Parts are unloaded directly from the trunk to the assembly line. This just-in-time production method suited production needs well into the late 1920s: the turnover warehouse in Siegmar could only accommodate a day's production of 25 cars at most.

Automobile Alliance

In the 1920s, the four car companies Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer each dealt with different market segments and lived in peace with each other. However, the use of assembly lines and modern machinery and equipment has led to a rapid increase in production capacity, which in turn requires companies to continuously expand the market, and increasing sales requires a lot of investment. On the other hand, the price war triggered by foreign automobile manufacturers has caused great losses to various automobile companies. . The German auto industry is finding it difficult to solve these financial problems on its own and needs the support of bank loans. As a result, the Bank of Saxony met Rasmussen's loan needs and laid the foundation for the expansion of the Rasmussen Group.

Thereafter, in order to maintain its interests in the automobile industry, Saxony Bank established the Automobile Alliance based on four companies, with total assets of 14.5 million German marks.

Auto Alliance owns four brands and products: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. But it took quite some time to develop a unified group philosophy and make it work in these very traditional companies.

Model development

At the 1933 German Automobile Exhibition, Auto Union appeared as a company for the first time. It exhibited the four-ring Audi front wheel. Driving a mid-size car caused a stir. However, due to the limited market awareness of avant-garde technology, its innovative features have not brought much sales. As a result, the Automobile Alliance made changes to the design. In 1938, the Audi 920 car with a very modern interior and superior engine performance was launched on the market. It is equipped with the newly developed OHC engine with a power of 75 horsepower and a maximum speed of 140 km/h. This powerful, compact car is loved by those who are full of dynamic energy. Later, this front-wheel drive car was changed to rear-wheel drive, the side-mounted chassis replaced the central square chassis, and it was available in 6-window type and two-door 4-window type. The market demand for the Audi 920 was so great that it sold out the planned one-year sales soon after its launch.

Part 2 (post-war)

A new beginning in Ingolstadt

In Ingolstadt, September 3, 1949 Tate established a new Auto Union GmbH (hereinafter referred to as: New Auto Union), which is the predecessor of today's Audi Auto Group, aiming to revive the old Auto Union AG established in Saxony Traditional foundation and brand.

When New Auto Alliance was founded, people's lives were generally difficult and they could only use economical and practical means of transportation. In the first few years, the only products produced in Ingolstadt were DKW motorcycles and cars with two-stroke engines. The formal establishment of the new Auto Union in 1949 was actually the second step in the postwar revival of the old Auto Union. The first step was the establishment of the "Auto Union Parts Supply Center" in Ingolstadt after the "Zero Point" incident on December 19, 1945, which was responsible for providing all pre-war personnel who had survived the war in the past six years. Vehicles produced by the Old Automobile Alliance supply spare parts. There are more than 6,000 such vehicles in the occupied western areas.

Why choose Ingolstadt?

The city of Ingolstadt is located in the center of Bavaria and has excellent transportation links. This is one of the reasons why it was chosen as the Auto Alliance parts supply center. Statistics from the Ingolstadt municipality show that the establishment of the center boosted local employment. However, the most critical reason for rebuilding the Auto Union in Ingolstadt is the century-old military "legacy" it retains as a military town: vast land, countless barracks, garages, turrets, etc. These are priceless assets for a company that has no money to build new factories.

Starting from the headquarters of the military supply depot on Schrannen Street, the company gradually took over buildings such as the "Peace Kaiser Barracks" (Friedenskaserne), the new armory, the sergeant's building, the vehicle hall, the arsenal, and the riding training hall and a spacious parade square. The company's facilities were spread across the city, making regular organized production nearly impossible. Workers derided the company as a "shack company."

"Bavarian Strike"

On August 9, 1954, a general strike broke out in the Bavarian metal processing industry, which many residents of Ingolstadt still remember. new. It was one of the first large-scale industrial disputes in the young Federal Republic of Germany, and companies in the metalworking industry called it "the most significant event of the postwar period."

At that time, New Automobile Alliance had 5,000 employees. As one of the largest manufacturers in Ingolstadt, many employees also threw away their production tools.

Workers demanded shorter working hours, increased wages, and improved working and living conditions. The strike lasted until August 31, 1954. Through arbitration, labor and management reached an agreement, and the Bavarian general strike ended. The result of the strike was that the workers' wages were increased by a little more than 4%.

Transactions of major shareholders

The new Auto Union spent an additional 920,000 German marks due to the general strike in Bavaria. 1954 was the company's first profitable year (approximately 400,000 German marks). In the same year, Friedrich Flick - the main shareholder of the steel giant Eisenwerk-Gesellschaft Maximilianshütte mbH Sulzbach-Rosenberg - acquired part of the shares of Auto Union AG. He realized several years ago that the Ingolstadt-based carmaker would one day need a partner with significant capital.

In 1957, Flick suggested that Daimler-Benz acquire Auto Union AG. At that time, he owned 40% of the shares of New Auto Union and 25% of Daimler-Benz AG. His idea was backed by Swiss billionaire Ernst G?hner, who owns 41 shares of the new Automobile Alliance. Daimler-Benz accepted the offer. Taking into account the growing competitive pressure from abroad, Daimler-Benz wants to expand its shrinking market share by increasing product varieties. Flick also hinted to Daimler-Benz that he was negotiating with Ford.

On April 24, 1958, Daimler-Benz acquired the shares of Auto Union 88 for only 41 million marks. A year later, in 1959, the remaining shares of the New Auto Union were sold to Daimler-Benz. Fritz K?necke, spokesman for the management board of Daimler AG, summed up the merger of Germany's second- and fifth-largest automakers by saying, "We married a beautiful lady from a well-known family." April 9, 1958, Germany "Handelsblatt" wrote: "In terms of sales and taxation, the acquisition of the Automobile Alliance, which has an annual turnover of about 400 million German marks and 10,000 employees, once again makes Daimler-Benz a federal state. Germany's largest car manufacturer ”

New plant in Ingolstadt

At the time of the acquisition by Daimler-Benz AG, the new Automobile Alliance was in Ingolstadt. The vehicles produced by Stadt were only motorcycles and DKW express vans. The final assembly of automobiles was concentrated in the factory in Dusseldorf, which was put into production in 1950.

In order to obtain funds, the company delayed the production of low-priced small cars. This small car had been under development since the mid-1950s and was ready to be launched on the market at some appropriate time under the name "DKW Junior". Although Daimler-Benz's acquisition secured funding for its long-delayed projects, the company still lacked the necessary production capacity.

Therefore, a new factory must be built without any delay, either in Ingolstadt or in Zons, two cities close to Dusseldorf, because the company An industrial site has been acquired in Düsseldorf. Fritz B?hm, then a member of the Works Association and the National Assembly - whose colleagues once said he resembled a fighting lion - promoted the establishment of the new factory in Ingolstadt. Thanks to his political connections, Bavaria was always one step ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia. A loan of 25 million German marks from the Bavarian State Bank played an important role in the company's final decision to build a new factory in Ingolstadt.

Another reason for choosing Ingolstadt is that the operation of two-wheeled transportation is facing paralysis: due to the sharp decline in demand for motorcycles, the company plans to reduce the production of DKW motorcycles in the short term. In the late 1950s, Ingolstadt had a greater availability of skilled workers compared to Zons, which was one of the main factors in the company's decision to build a new factory here.

In 1959, the company invested 76 million German marks here, and in 1960 it invested an additional 51 million German marks. The local newspaper "Donaukurier" commented on the new factory: "Europe's largest and most modern automobile factory will be built near Ingolstadt."

Redeals by major shareholders

At the end of 1958, the new Auto Union had 3,700 employees in Ingolstadt; a year later, the number of employees increased to 5,700. The establishment of the new factory not only led to a sharp increase in the number of employees, but also prompted the new Auto Union to decide to move its production base to Ingolstadt in 1961 and its headquarters to the city in 1962, thus realizing the planned Rational configuration and cost reduction. But starting from 1962, when the production and sales of the parent company were at their peak, the production and sales of the New Automobile Alliance were in a downturn.

Especially in 1964, the New Automobile Alliance faced a severe financial crisis. Although Daimler-Benz has a good reputation, the subsidiary's financial problems are difficult to solve because the subsidiary cannot cooperate happily with the parent company. As a result, the new Auto Union was resold to Volkswagen AG. This is an amazing business deal. The 45th issue of the news magazine "Der Spiegel" wrote: "Friedrich Flick, the largest shareholder of Daimler-Benz, spent more than a year designing, reflecting and pondering the largest corporate restructuring plan in his career." The review said, Not only did Flick plan "the biggest business event of 1964," he also helped lay out the details of the event.

From 1964 onwards, ownership of the new Auto Union was sold to Volkswagen AG in several stages. Volkswagen AG spent a total of 297 million German marks on this transaction. As of 1966, Volkswagen owned all shares of the new Automobile Alliance.

The situation is both good and bad...

New Auto Alliance was acquired by Volkswagen AG and avoided bankruptcy. The once-popular two-stroke engine came to an end, and some 30,000 unsold DKW cars ended up in the scrap heap. At this time, Volkswagen's Beetle series became the savior of the new Auto Union: from May 1965 to July 1969, approximately 348,000 Volkswagen Beetle series cars were assembled in Ingolstadt.

From August 1965, after the new "Audi" car was put on the market, the new Automobile Alliance began to slowly get out of the predicament. The four-stroke engine car built in Ingolstadt attracted great attention on the market and successfully laid the basis for a new model series. However, the good times did not last long. After 15 years of seemingly unhindered economic recovery, Germany suddenly encountered the Great Depression in 1966 and 1967. The New Automobile Alliance was hit hard and had to cut production significantly, and quickly.

In March 1969, New Automobile Alliance signed a merger agreement with NSU Automobile Company. The new company Audi-NSU Automobile AG was founded on January 1, 1969 and is headquartered in Neckarsulm. The company adopted a policy of development and expansion from the beginning, and production of Audi and NSU cars grew steadily until the oil crisis of 1973 took hold. In 1974, the global economic recession also had a negative impact on the automobile market, and the company had to cut its automobile production from 400,000 units in the first year to 330,000 units. Such a big move made it inevitable for the company to lay off a large number of employees: in 1974, the total number of employees dropped from 33,800 to 28,600; in 1975, 1,700 workers lost their jobs in Ingolstadt alone.

Entering a new scale

At the end of 1975, the automobile industry began to recover, which was reflected in the sales volume of Audi cars. In March 1977, the last NSU R80 car left the production line, marking the completion of the mission of the NSU brand with a history of more than 100 years. Since then, all cars produced in Neckarsulm have been branded "Audi".

In 1980, with the application of Audi's exclusive technology-quattro permanent four-wheel drive system, the first mass-produced full-time four-wheel drive caused a sensation.

Subsequently, Audi participated in racing activities to test the performance of the quattro permanent four-wheel drive system. In 1982, Audi won the first place among the German brands in the extremely challenging World Automobile Manufacturers Championship; in 1983, Hannu Mikkola drove an Audi four-wheel drive car and became the World Rally Champion; in 1984, Audi won the world's automobile manufacturers and Drivers Championship.

In 1982, Audi set another record: the third-generation Audi 100 reduced its drag coefficient to 0.30, making it the model with the best aerodynamic performance among mass-produced cars in the world. In an era where environmental protection and energy conservation are increasingly required, Audi cars lead the trend.

On January 1, 1985, Audi-NSU Automobile AG was renamed Audi Automobile AG, and the company's registered address was moved from Neckarsulm to Ingolstadt. In the mid-1980s, as discussions about speed limits and reducing emissions heated up, Audi and other German automakers felt the impact. In 1985, domestic car sales fell by 7.5%, while exports increased by 9.4%.

In 1985, Audi's total investment reached 1 billion German marks - the largest investment in the company's history, mainly used to improve production equipment and research and development of new technologies. In the autumn of 1986, the new Audi 80 car with a fully electroplated body was put on the market. This technology can ensure that the car will not rust for 10 years, setting a new standard among cars of the same level. In 1988, Audi's first 3.5-liter V8 engine and four-valve luxury sedan, the V8 sedan, made its debut, marking Audi's return to the top luxury sedan market.

Audi’s slogan is “Breakthrough in Technology, Inspire the Future”. This slogan is once again confirmed by TDI turbodiesel engine technology. The technology's low fuel performance is impressive. In 1992, a standard Audi 80 TDI sedan traveled around the world and traveled 40,273 kilometers with an average fuel consumption of only 3.78 liters per 100 kilometers and an average speed of 85.8 kilometers per hour.

In the early 1990s, the world market was relatively weak, but the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany and the unification of the German currency boosted demand in the German domestic market. In 1991, Audi's sales in the domestic market exceeded 14.8 billion German marks. But by 1993, this boom was only able to postpone the recession that had already occurred in the German economy a few years earlier.

At the Tokyo Motor Show in the autumn of 1993, Audi displayed the world's first car using an all-aluminum body frame structure (ASF), announcing the beginning of a new automotive era. In March 1994, as an improved model of the Audi V8 sedan, the all-aluminum body Audi A8 made its first public appearance. With the advent of the Audi A8, Audi's naming of model series began to change. In the summer of the same year, the Audi A6 was launched on the market, and the new Audi A4 was also launched on the market in November of that year. The new Audi A4 was a huge success: in 1995, 120,000 units were sold in Germany alone.

In the autumn of 1995, Audi showed off another trump card - the TT sports car, which successfully combined unique design with modern fashion features and mature technology. A year later, the two-door compact Audi A3 was launched on the market, attracting more customers. In 1997, Audi showed a new Audi A6 and Al2, the latter an all-aluminum body model based on second-generation ASF technology. The Audi TT hard-top convertible (Coupé) and soft-top convertible (Roadster) were launched on the market in 1988 and 1999 respectively.

Audi enters the new millennium with captivating models for the future. In June 2000, the Audi A2 was launched on the market. This model once again consolidated Audi's competitiveness in lightweight aluminum bodies. In October of the same year, another of the company's flagship models, the Audi A8W12, was unveiled at the Paris Auto Show. The new Audi convertible sports car and the new Audi A8, which were launched on the market in 2002, highlight the sporty characteristics of Audi cars, and this characteristic is perfectly reflected in the Audi RS6 model.

Audi is an international developer and manufacturer of high-quality automobiles. In 2002, the company's car sales reached 742,000 vehicles, with annual revenue of approximately 22.6 billion euros and more than 51,000 employees worldwide.