Autounion

Year of foundation 1932-1969

The history of the Auto Union car manufacturer is a fundamental chapter in the German automotive industry, laying the foundation for today's Audi. It was not founded by a single founder, but by a merger of four pre-existing brands.

Here are the key milestones:

The Birth of the Four Rings
In 1932, in the midst of the economic crisis following the Wall Street Crash, four German car manufacturers—Audi, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer—merged to form Auto Union AG. This merger was promoted by the Saxon State Bank, with the aim of creating a stronger industrial group capable of withstanding market difficulties.

The four rings in the Auto Union logo, which we now know as the Audi symbol, represented this union. Each of the brands maintained its own identity, specializing in a specific market segment:

DKW: produced motorcycles and small cars with two-stroke engines.

Wanderer: produced mid-range cars.

Audi: positioned itself in the mid-to-high-end segment.

Horch: It was the luxury brand, specializing in high-end cars.

Racing Successes
Auto Union became famous above all for its successes in motor racing. Under the influence of the Nazi regime, which financed the development of the German "Silver Arrows," the company clashed with rival Mercedes-Benz. Auto Union's racing cars, designed in part by Ferdinand Porsche, were cutting-edge for their time, with innovative features such as the mid-rear engine. Legendary drivers such as Bernd Rosemeyer and Tazio Nuvolari drove these cars to victory in numerous Grand Prix races.

World War II and Rebirth
World War II brought an abrupt halt to production and racing activities. After the conflict, Auto Union's factories found themselves in East Germany, and the company was dissolved. However, some former managers and engineers managed to reestablish the company in West Germany, in Ingolstadt, initially resuming operations under the DKW brand and producing two-stroke engines.

The Transition to Audi
In 1958, Auto Union was acquired by Daimler-Benz, which sold it to Volkswagen a few years later, in 1964. Under the new ownership, the company gradually moved away from the production of two-stroke vehicles and focused on new four-stroke models. The first four-stroke car produced after the war was simply called "Audi," effectively marking the rebirth of the brand.

In 1969, Volkswagen decided to merge Auto Union with another recently acquired car manufacturer, NSU. This merger gave birth to Audi NSU Auto Union AG. The successes of the new Audi 80 and Audi 100 led the brand to consolidate and gradually dominate the market, until, in 1985, the "Auto Union" name was definitively abandoned in favor of Audi AG.

Today, the four rings no longer represent the merger of four companies, but have become the iconic symbol of Audi, a direct legacy of the glorious history of Auto Union.