“August Horch” founded the company in the year 1910 in Zwickau, Germany. Initially the company branded its cars as Horch Cars. Horch in German means to listen. However, the company had to change its name, as it was the name of the company, Horch initially started. Horch had to leave that company in 1909. The new company then started branding its cars with the name “Audi” which again meant to listens in Latin.
Initially Audi launched a 2612 cc(2.6L) four cylinder model followed by the 3564 cc(3.6L) as well as the 4680 cc(4.7L) and 57200 cc (5.7L) models. These cars also gained great success in the sporting events. August Horch left the company in the year 1920. “Jergen Rasmussen”, owner of DKW (Dampf Kraft Wagen) took over the company in the year 1928. Rasmussen also took over the remainder of an American automobile manufacturer, Rickenbacker. Audi thus got the 8 Cylinder engines used in models such as, Audi Zwickau and the Audi Dresden in 1929. The company also manufactured 6 cuylinder and 4 cylinder engines accredited from Peugeot. The cars manufactured by Audi in that era were luxurious and outfitted with extraordinary bodywork.
The Auto Union era
In 1932, the company merged with Horch, DKW and Wanderer to form an Auto Union.
The four coupled rings badge seen on the Audi was the emblem for the Auto Union before the World War II. As the technology advanced, Horch and Wanderer engines propelled the Audi cars. The Sd Kfz 222 was an armored car produced by the Horch/Auto Union during the World War II. This car served the German army with a top speed of 50 miles per hour.
The Audi emblem of four overlapping rings represents the four integrals of the auto Union. The emblem signifies the incorporation of the company with the DKW, Horch and Wanderer. The World War II damaged the Auto Union on a wide scale. Due to heavy property damages, the Auto Union AG had to shut down.
In 1969, the Auto union merged with the NSU Moternworke in Neckarsulm, Stuttgart. Initially the worlds largest motorcycle company in the 1950’s, they started producing small cars. To produce larger models like the Audi R8 and RS models, the company now uses the NSU plant in Neckarsulm. The merged company was known as Audi NSU Auto Union AG. This was the emergence of Audi as an individual brand since the pre war era.
Modern day Audi
Audi sales are growing consistently in Europe. The company produced and sold 779,441 vehicles worldwide in 2004. Major sales are coordinated from Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East. The world sales for the year 2007 for Audi are 964,151 vehicles. The company has started offering computerized car control systems called the Multi Media Interface (MMI). This system enables to control radio, satellite navigation, television, heating and car control with the help of a screen. MMI is a user friendly system as it needs less menu surfing. Conventionally the screens were mounted on the dashboards. However, the new A4, A5, A6, A8 and Q7 models see the controls mounted horizontally.
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