Being Ahead through Technology
Audi
Tagline
Net Worth
$17,180,000,000
Started in (City)
Zwickau
Started in (Country)
Germany
Incorporation Date
16th December, 1909
Bankruptcy Date
-
Founders
- August Horch
About
Audi is a German automobile manufacturer that designs, engineers, produces, markets, and distributes luxury vehicles. Audi is a member of the Volkswagen Group and has its roots at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. Audi-branded vehicles are produced in nine production facilities worldwide. The company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. "Horch", meaning "listen" in German, becomes "Audi" in Latin. The four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create Audi’s predecessor company, Auto Union. Audi’s slogan is Vorsprung Durch Technik, meaning "Being Ahead through Technology". However, Audi USA had used the slogan "Truth in Engineering" from 2007 to 2016, and have not used the slogan since 2016. Audi, along with fellow German marques BMW and Mercedes-Benz, is among the best-selling luxury automobile brands in the world. On 14 November 1899, August Horch (1868–1951) established the company A. Horch & Cie. in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne. In 1902, he moved with his company to Reichenbach im Vogtland. On 10 May 1904, he founded the August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG, a joint-stock company in Zwickau (State of Saxony).
Beginning
The origins of the company are complex, going back to the early 20th century and the initial enterprises (Horch and the Audiwerke) founded by engineer August Horch; and two other manufacturers (DKW and Wanderer), leading to the foundation of Auto Union in 1932. The modern era of Audi essentially began in the 1960s when Auto Union was acquired by Volkswagen from Daimler-Benz. After relaunching the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series, Volkswagen merged Auto Union with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969, thus creating the present-day form of the company. On 14 November 1899, August Horch (1868–1951) established the company A. Horch & Cie. in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne. In 1902, he moved with his company to Reichenbach im Vogtland. On 10 May 1904, he founded the August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG, a joint-stock company in Zwickau (State of Saxony).Since August Horch was prohibited from using "Horch" as a trade name in his new car business, he called a meeting with close business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau. At the apartment of Franz Fikentscher, they discussed how to come up with a new name for the company. During this meeting, Franz's son was quietly studying Latin in a corner of the room. Several times he looked like he was on the verge of saying something but would just swallow his words and continue working, until he finally blurted out, "Father – audiatur et altera pars... wouldn't it be a good idea to call it audi instead of horch?". "Horch!" in German means "Hark!" or "hear", which is "Audi" in the singular imperative form of "audire" – "to listen" – in Latin. The idea was enthusiastically accepted by everyone attending the meeting. On 25 April 1910 the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau (from 1915 on Audiwerke AG Zwickau) was entered in the company's register of Zwickau registration court.
Road to Success
The original "Audi" script, with the distinctive slanted tails on the "A" and "d" was created for the historic Audi company in 1920 by the famous graphic designer Lucian Bernhard and was resurrected when Volkswagen revived the brand in 1965. Following the demise of NSU in 1977, less prominence was given to the four rings, in preference to the "Audi" script encased within a black (later red) ellipse, and was commonly displayed next to the Volkswagen roundel when the two brands shared a dealer network under the V.A.G banner. The ellipse (known as the Audi Oval) was phased out after 1994 when Audi formed its own independent dealer network, and prominence was given back to the four rings – at the same time Audi Sans (a derivative of Univers) was adopted as the font for all marketing materials, corporate communications and was also used in the vehicles themselves.
Challenges
Since August Horch was prohibited from using "Horch" as a trade name in his new car business, he called a meeting with close business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau. At the apartment of Franz Fikentscher, they discussed how to come up with a new name for the company. During this meeting, Franz’s son was quietly studying Latin in a corner of the room. Several times he looked like he was on the verge of saying something but would just swallow his words and continue working, until he finally blurted out, "Father – audiatur et altera pars... wouldn’t it be a good idea to call it Audi instead of horch?"[18] "Horch!" in German means "Hark!" or "hear", which is "Audi" in the singular imperative form of "audire" – "to listen" – in Latin. The idea was enthusiastically accepted by everyone attending the meeting. On 25 April 1910 the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau (from 1915 on Audiwerke AG Zwickau) was entered in the company’s register of Zwickau registration court.
The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10/22 hp (16 kW) Sport-Phaeton, was produced in the same year, followed by the successor Type B 10/28PS in the same year.
Failures
Audi achieved a milestone in automotive history with the Quattro permanent all-wheel drive – in 1980, no other manufacturer offered a fast-running and light all-wheel drive for high-volume production. The technology premiered in 1980 in the Ur-Quattro at the Geneva International Motor Show. In 1986 Audi replaced the first generation's manually locking center differential with the Torsen differential, which could variably distribute drive torque. The planetary drive followed in 2005, with its asymmetrical, dynamic distribution of power and torque. The self-locking center differential is continuously being further developed by Audi and is considered the benchmark for traction and driving dynamics combined with very lightweight.
Audi has also celebrated many triumphs in motorsport with Quattro technology. The list so far includes four World Rally Championship titles, six victories in the famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb race in the United States, a title win in the TransAm series in the U.S., two DTM titles, 11 national Super Touring Car Championships, and a Touring Car World Cup. The latest victory for Quattro technology: In late November, Mattias Ekström and his private rallycross team EKS captured the Driver World Champion and Team World Champion titles with the Audi S1 EKS RX Quattro in the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Achievements
- The Car Connection Best Green Car Award - 2019 Audi e-tron
- Audi of America receives four Vincentric "Best Value in America Awards" including "Best Luxury Car Brand"
- 2019 Audi e-tron SUV is the first pure battery-electric vehicle to earn 2019 IIHS 'Top Safety Pick+' rating
- Audi e-tron and Audi Q3 SUVs receive ALG Residual Value Awards
CEOs
- Rupert Stadler
- Herbert Diess
- Martin Winterkorn