Audi AG is a German manufacturer of a range of automobiles, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand, positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group.
The company is headquartered in Ingolstadt, Germany, and has been a wholly owned (99.55%) subsidiary of Volkswagen AG since 1966, following a phased purchase of its predecessor, Auto Union, from its former owner, Daimler-Benz. Volkswagen relaunched the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series.
The company name is based on the surname of the founder August Horch, his surname meaning listen in German—which, when translated into Latin, becomes Audi.
Birth of the company and its name
On November 14, 1899, August Horch (1868–1951) established the company A. Horch & Cie. in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne, but because of dispute between him and the supervisory board, he had to leave the company. A few years later, he established a second company, Horch Automobil-Werke GmbH. The company traces its origins back to 1909 and August Horch. The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10/22 hp (16 kW) Sport-Phaeton, was produced in 1910 in Zwickau.
In 1909, Horch was forced out of the company he had founded. He then started a new company in Zwickau and continued using the Horch brand. His former partners sued him for trademark infringement, and the German Supreme Court (Reichsgericht in Berlin) finally determined that the Horch brand belonged to his former company.
August Horch was barred from using his own family name in his new car business, so he called a meeting with his best business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau and they came up with the name. The first Audi car, the Type B, 10/28PS was delivered early in 1910.
August Horch left the Audi company in 1920 for a high position at the ministry of transport, but he was still involved with Audi as a member of the board of trustees. In September 1921, Audi became the first German car manufacturer to present a production car, the Audi Type K, with left-handed drive.
Current model range
| Audi A1 | Audi A3 | Audi A4 | Audi A5 | Audi A6 | Audi A7 | Audi A8 | ||||
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| Supermini | Small Family Car | Compact Executive Car | Compact Executive Car | Executive Car | Executive Car | Full-size Luxury Car | ||||
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| Audi TT | Audi R8 Road Car | Audi Q5 | Audi Q7 |
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| Compact Sports Car | Sports Car | Compact Crossover SUV | Crossover SUV |
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S (Sport) models
| Audi S3 | Audi S4 | Audi S5 | Audi TTS |
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| Small Family Car | Compact Executive Car | Compact Executive Car | Compact Sports Car |
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RS (RennSport/Racing Sport) models
| Audi RS3 | Audi RS5 | Audi TT RS |
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| Small Family Car | Compact Executive Car | Compact Sports Car |
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