Audi AG is a German luxury vehicle manufacturer, and a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. Headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The company has complex origins that go back to the early 20th century, and the initial enterprises founded by August Horch, including Horch and the Audiwerke. Auto Union was created in 1932 from the merger of Horch, DKW, and Wanderer. In the 1960s, Volkswagen acquired Auto Union and relaunched the Audi brand with the introduction of the Audi F103 series. Audi's slogan is "Vorsprung durch Technik," which means "Being Ahead through Technology." Today, Audi is one of the best-selling luxury automobile brands in the world, along with BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
History
Wanderer was an automobile company established in 1885, which later became a branch of Audi AG. NSU, another company that later merged into Audi, was also founded during this time and supplied the chassis for Gottlieb Daimler's four-wheeler. August Horch established A. Horch & Cie. in 1899 and founded the August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG in 1904, which became the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau in 1910. After August Horch left his former company, he was prohibited from using "Horch" as a trade name and came up with the name "Audi" during a meeting with business friends. The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10/22 hp Sport-Phaeton, was produced in 1910. Audi continued to produce various models, including the six-cylinder model Type M, 4,655 cc, which appeared in 1924. August Horch left the Audiwerke in 1920 but was still involved with Audi as a member of the board of trustees. In 1921, Audi became the first German car manufacturer to present a production car, the Audi Type K, with left-handed drive.
