A Brief History
The first seeds of Audi began in 1899 when August Horch created the Horch and Co company. He left in 1909 to create a new business called Audi (the latin translation of his name). Post war depression in Germany forced the formation of the 'Auto Union' in 1932, a merger of Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer, each represented by one of the four conjoined rings in the famous Audi logo.
Audi's racing and engineering prowess was immediately apparent. The amazing Auto Union 'Streamliner' racers producing 550bhp and 250mph back in the late 1930s! Audi went on to amazing racing success, in particular in the rallying and Le Mans arena's.
A move to their current home at Ingolstadt came in the late 50s, followed by their merging into the VW group in 1965. In fact, it wasn't until 1985 that the company itself would officially be known as Audi.
The road and rally world was turned upside down in 1980 with the appearance of the legendary Quattro. This was the first production sports car to feature 4WD, which ensured rally domination for years to come.
Audi's concept vehicles are legendary. The Avus of 1991 being formed entirely of Aluminium, a technique that soon passed on to Audi's luxury road cars. The original TT concept stunned the world and led to one of the most stylish coupes around. Now the new R8 concept is destined to be Audi's first supercar, with input from sister company Lamborghini.
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