- The August Horch & Cie (company) was established in 1899 and in 1901 Horch produced his first cars.
- Eight years later, in 1909, the company’s board of directors forced Horch to leave the company he had formed.
- The following year, in 1910, Horch formed the Audi Company. Unable to use the Horch name for legal reasons he chose “Audi” because it was the latin translation of his name.
- Audi's first cars included four-cylinder 2.6, 3.6, 4.7 and 5.7 litre models.
- In 1928 the company was acquired by the owner of DKW and four years later, in 1932, Audi and DKW merged with Horch’s original company and the Wanderers company to form Auto Union.
- Note: The Wanderer car manufacturer was formed in 1911 and started out producing 1,145 and 1,220 cc models.
- Between 1928 and 1939, the August Horch & Cie.,now part of Auto Union, produced about 11 models, including the 350, 375, 930V, 850, 851, 853 and 855.
- In the 1930s DKW was the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer. It produced cars from 1928 to 1966.
- At the end of World War 2 in 1945 Auto Union, which Audi was part of, found itself part of East Germany. Their factory was used to produce Trabant cars, including the P601 model (2.5 million made between 1961 and 1990).
- In 1963 Daimler-Benz acquired control of Auto Union, selling the company on to Volkswagen the following year.
- A model designated internally as “F103” was launched in 1965 and sold as “Audi”. A few years later it became known as the Audi 72.
- Other models produced between 1966 and 1972 include the Audi 80, Super 90, 75 and the 1,496 cc 60 model (over 200,000 of which were made between 1965 and 1972). These models were named after their horsepower ratings.
- Between 1968 and 1976 the Audi 100 was the company's most successful car, selling over 827,000.
- In 1969, Auto Union merged with NSU (who built cars from 1906 to 1928, resuming car production in 1958). The merged company, still part of the Volkswagen group, was named "Audi NSU Auto Union AG".
- One of the first cars to be produced after the merger was the Audi 80/Fox which formed the basis of the 1973 Volkswagen Passat . The Audi 50 was produced in 1972, later renamed the Volkswagen Polo in 1974. See Section 8.6.5, Volkswagen.
- The Audi Quattro was produced from 1980 to 1991 and over 11,000 were made. It originally had a 2,144 cc engine, which was later increased to 2,226 cc.
- In 1985 the company’s name was shortened to "Audi AG".
- By 1991, the Audi range included the Audi 80, 90, 100, 200 and Audi V8.
- Models produced in 2007 include the Q7, R8, TT, A3, A4, A5, A6 and the A8.
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