CAR REVIEW |
Audi |
Audi or
Audi AG (Xetra:
NSU) is a German manufacturer of various type 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.
The largest shareholder of
Audi is
Volkswagen AG, which holds over 99 percent of the
share capital.
Volkswagen AG includes the consolidated accounts of
Audi in its own financial statements. In recent years, the possibility of Audi being spun off or otherwise divested by
Volkswagen has been mooted.
From 2002 up to 2007,
Audi headed the Audi Brand Group, the Volkswagen Group's
automotive sub-division, consisted of Audi together with
SEAT and
Lamborghini, that was focused on more
sporty values, with the marques' product vehicles and performance being under the higher responsibility of the
Audi brand.
On 14 November 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.
Since August Horch was barred from using "Horch" as a
trade name in his new
car business, he called a meeting with his best business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau. At the apartment of Franz Fikentscher, they discussed how to come up with a new name for the company. During this meeting, Franz's son was quietly studying Latin in a corner of the room. Several times he looked like he was on the verge of saying something but would just swallow his words and continue working, until he finally blurted out, "Father – audiatur et altera pars... wouldn't it be a good idea to call it
audi instead of horch?" "Horch!" in German means "Hark!" or "hear", which is "
Audi" in Latin. The idea was enthusiastically accepted by everyone attending the meeting. The first Audi car, the Type B, 10/28PS was delivered early in 1910.
Audi started with a 2612 cc inline-four engine model followed by a 3564 cc model, as well as 4680 cc and 5720 cc
models. These cars were successful even in sporting events. The first
six cylinder model, 4655 cc appeared in 1924.
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. Left-hand drive spread and established dominance during the 1920s because it provided a better view of oncoming traffic, making overtaking
safer. -
CAR REVIEWAUDI
The prototype model was completely undisguised, however, there’s a reason for that. With the exception of some model specific details such as the telling quad tail pipes and unique alloy wheel designs, the S6 will remain unchanged from the A6 with the optional S-Line sport package. The latter adds an aero kit with restyled front and rear bumpers, among other parts.
