Audi

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, which is translated as 'Progress through Technology'. Along with German brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Audi is among the best-selling luxury automobile brands in the world.

Automobile company Wanderer was established in 1885, later becoming a branch of Audi AG. Another company, NSU, which also later merged into Audi, was founded during this time, and supplied the chassis for Gottlieb Daimler's four-wheeler. On 14 November 1899, August Horch established the company A. Horch & Cie. in 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.

After troubles with his company’s chief financial officer, August Horch left Motorwagenwerke and founded his second company, the August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH, in Zwickau on 16 July 1909. His former partners sued him for trademark infringement. The German Reichsgericht (Supreme Court) determined that the Horch brand belonged to his former company. Prohibited from using 'Horch' as a trade name, a meeting was held with close business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher. During this meeting, Franz’s son suggested calling the company 'audi' – the Latin imperative form of ‘audire’ meaning ‘to listen’. The idea was enthusiastically accepted, and on 25 April 1910 the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau was entered in the company's register.

The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10/22 hp Sport-Phaeton, was produced in 1910, followed by the Type B 10/28PS in the same year. Audi started with a 2,612 cc straight-four engine model Type A, followed by 3,564 cc and 4,680 cc and 5,720 cc models. These cars were successful even in sporting events. The first six-cylinder model Type M, 4,655 cc, appeared in 1924. In September 1921, Audi became the first German car manufacturer to present a production car, the Audi Type K, with left-handed drive.

In 1928, Jørgen Rasmussen, the owner of DKW, acquired the majority of shares in Audiwerke AG. Rasmussen bought the remains of the U.S. automobile manufacturer Rickenbacker, including manufacturing equipment for 8-cylinder engines, which were used in Audi Zwickau and Audi Dresden models launched in 1929. In 1932, Audi merged with Horch, DKW, and Wanderer, to form Auto Union AG. During this period, the Audi Front was introduced, the first European car to combine a six-cylinder engine with front-wheel drive.

Before World War II, Auto Union used the four interlinked rings that make up the Audi logo today, referring to Audi's history as Auto Union. However, this badge was used only on Auto Union racing cars, while the member companies used their own names and emblems. The technological development became increasingly concentrated, and some Audi models were propelled by Horch- or Wanderer-built engines. After the final few Audis were delivered in 1939, the "Audi" name disappeared from the new car market for more than two decades.

Richard Bruhn, a Nazi party member, was Auto Union's chairman of the board from 1932 to 1945 and then again after the war. A 2014 investigation revealed that the company worked with the SS to build seven labor camps where more than 3,700 prisoners were put to work for Auto Union. Additionally, 16,500 more people were forced to work at the company's factories in Zwickau and Chemnitz, and another 18,000 at an underground plant in Bavaria where 4,500 died.

With no prospect of continuing production in Soviet-controlled East Germany, Auto Union executives began relocating the company to West Germany. A site was chosen in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, to start a spare parts operation in late 1945, which eventually became the headquarters of the reformed Auto Union in 1949. On 17 August 1948, Auto Union AG of Chemnitz was deleted from the commercial register, liquidating Germany's Auto Union AG. The former Audi plant of Zwickau became the VEB Automobilwerk Zwickau (AWZ), which later manufactured the Trabant until 1991.

A new West German headquartered Auto Union was launched in Ingolstadt with loans from the Bavarian state government and Marshall Plan aid. The reformed company was launched on 3 September 1949, continuing DKW's tradition of producing front-wheel drive vehicles with two-stroke engines. In 1958, Daimler-Benz took an 87% holding in Auto Union, increasing to 100% in 1959. Volkswagen acquired the business in 1964, and by 1966 were using the Ingolstadt plant to assemble additional Volkswagen Beetles. In 1965, Volkswagen relaunched the Audi brand with the Audi F103 series. Volkswagen merged Auto Union with NSU in 1969.

In 1969, Auto Union merged with NSU, based in Neckarsulm. NSU had been the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the 1950s, but had moved on to produce small cars like the NSU Prinz, and then focused on new rotary engines based on the ideas of Felix Wankel. The NSU Ro 80 was a technically advanced car, but teething problems with the rotary engines led to the decline of NSU. The Neckarsulm plant is now used to produce the larger Audi models A6 and A8, and is home to Audi Sport GmbH, responsible for the R8 and RS models.

Audi's U.S. sales, which had reached 74,061 in 1985, dropped to 12,283 in 1991 and remained level for three years.

Audi has competed in various forms of motorsports. In 1980, Audi released the Quattro, a four-wheel drive turbocharged car that won rallies and races worldwide. The Quattro won the 1983 and 1984 drivers' titles, and brought Audi the manufacturers' title in 1982 and 1984. Audi also found success in touring car racing, winning the German DTM series. Audi began racing prototype sportscars in 1999, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times in a row with the Audi R8 (2000–2002). Audi also competed in the American Le Mans Series, winning races and championships. Audi entered Formula E in 2014, and announced in 2022 that it would enter Formula One as an engine manufacturer in 2026.