Spare parts Audi

The name of the automobile manufacturer Audi comes from its founder August Horch.

It's a play on words between 'audi,' which means 'to hear' in Latin, and 'horch,' which means 'to listen' in German. Audi's history began on July 16, 1909, in Zwickau, Germany. The first model to roll out of the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH factory was the Type A Sport-Phaeton in 1910. By 1911, the company was participating in the Austrian Alpine Rally, an endurance race that it won three years in a row starting from 1912, gaining international renown.

In August 1928, Audi found itself in a complex financial situation, and the majority of its shares were acquired by the owner of DKW (Dampf-Kraft-Wagen). The global crisis of 1929 didn't help matters. In 1932, the 'Auto Union AG' company was created, resulting from the merger of the Audi brand with DKW, Horsh (also founded by August Horch in 1899), and Wanderer. It was from this partnership that the emblem with the four interlinked rings was born, which is still recognized today.

Audi was then responsible for producing the group's luxury models due to its expertise but quickly shifted towards mid-range models due to intense competition in the luxury vehicle segment. The post-war period was a challenging phase for the Auto Union, as it was for the entire German industry. Their factories were bombed by Allied forces or dismantled by the Soviets, forcing many employees to relocate to the Ingolstadt region, the historical site of DKW's factories. A new company was formed in 1949, 'Auto Union GmbH.'

In 1956, Mercedes-Benz became the primary shareholder of Auto Union and sold off all of its shares to Volkswagen in 1964. It was only a year later that Volkswagen decided to revive the brand with the introduction of a 1.7-liter front-wheel-drive four-cylinder. In 1985, Volkswagen granted autonomy to Audi, which today represents the high-end subsidiary and technological showcase of the group.