Introduction

The German automobile manufacturer Audi boasts of one of the most premium car brands in its league. The company was established in 1909 and gets its name from its founder August Horch. In German, Horch means ‘listen’ and when translated in Latin, it means Audi.

Since 1966, the company has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG that holds over 99 percent of its share capital.

There’s a rather interesting story behind the name of the brand. In 1899, August Horch formed a company called A. Horch & Cie. However, he had to leave the company due to a dispute with his supervisory board. He then went on to form another company by the name Horch Automobil-Werke GmbH. But he had to leave this company as well.

So in 1909, he established another company in Zwickau and continued using the Horch brand name. But his former partners sued him for trademark infringement and he was not allowed to use the name anymore. As he brainstormed a new name for his company with his friends Paul and Franz, the latter’s son suggested using the Latin meaning of the word Horch – the name Audi was thus born!

The four rings in the emblem are symbolic of the merger of the manufacturers Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer.

Right from the start, Audi cars were successful in the market as well as at sporting events. However, when Horch joined the ministry of transport in 1920, it restricted his role in the company as a member of the board of trustees.

In 1932, Audi merged with DKW, Horch and Wanderer to form Auto Union. This was followed by the launch of Audi Front UW 220, the first European car to have a front-wheel drive with a six cylinder engine.

By 1959, Daimler-Benz acquired a 100% holding in Auto Union. But since Auto Union's car models did not turn out to be as successful in the early 1960s as expected, Daimler-Benz decided to discontinue the business. In 1964, Volkswagen took a 50% holding in the business. When people started preferring four-stroke engines, Volkswagen dumped the DKW brand and introduced models like Audi 60, 75, 80, and Super 90.

In 1969, Auto Union merged with NSU that had a factory in Neckarsulm to form Audi NSU Auto Union AG. Subsequently, the company again changed its name to Audi AG in 1985.