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Four rings – four brands

Four interlocking rings symbolised the merger of four automobile manufacturers based in the German state of Saxony: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer became Auto Union AG, then the second-largest motor vehicle manufacturing group in Germany. Here are brief details of the roots of today’s AUDI AG.

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Audi

The company established by August Horch in Zwickau on July 16, 1909 could not take its founder's name for competitive reasons. A new name was found for the company by translating Horch’s name, which in German means "hark!" or "listen!", into Latin. The second company established by August Horch therefore commenced trading as Audi Automobilwerke GmbH, Zwickau on April 25, 1910.

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DKW

Originally founded in Chemnitz in 1902 as Rasmussen & Ernst, the company moved to Zschopau in the Erzgebirge region in 1907. It initially manufactured and sold exhaust-steam oil separators for steam power plants, vehicle mudguards and lights, vulcanisation equipment and centrifuges of all kinds. The company's founder Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen began to experiment with a steam-driven motor vehicle in 1916, registering DKW (short for Dampfkraftwagen – steam-driven vehicle) as a trademark in 1922. In 1919, the company began manufacturing two-stroke engines, initially in the form of a working toy-engine.. In 1921, this led to a change of name to “Zschopauer Motorenwerke J.S. Rasmussen OHG.” One year later, the first motorcycles left the factory in Zschopau under the brand name DKW.

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Horch

At the end of the 19th century, there were already a number of car manufacturers in Germany. One of them was August Horch & Cie., founded on November 14, 1899 in Cologne. August Horch was one of the pioneering figures in automobile engineering. Before setting up in business on his own, his professional experience had included three years in charge of automobile production at Carl Benz in Mannheim. In 1904, August Horch moved his business to Zwickau and transformed it into a joint-stock company.

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Wanderer

In 1885 two mechanics, Johann Baptist Winklhofer and Richard Adolf Jaenicke, opened a bicycle repair workshop in Chemnitz. Shortly afterwards they began to make bicycles of their own, since demand at that time was very high. These were marketed under the brand name Wanderer, and in 1896 the company itself began to trade as Wanderer Fahrradwerke AG. Wanderer built its first motorcycle in 1902. The idea of branching out into car production was finally put into practice in 1913.

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The Auto Union AG, Chemnitz
On 29 June 1932, Audiwerke, Horchwerke and Zschopauer Motorenwerke J. S. Rasmussen AG (DKW) merged on the initiative of the State Bank of Saxony to form Auto Union AG. A purchase and leasing agreement was concluded at the same time with Wanderer for the takeover of its motor vehicle division. The new company's head offices were in Chemnitz. Following the merger, Auto Union AG was the second-largest motor vehicle manufacturer in Germany. The company emblem consisted of four interlocking rings, intended to symbolise the inseparable unity of the four founder companies. The Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer brand names were retained. Each of the four brands was assigned a specific market segment within the group: DKW – motorcycles and small cars; Wanderer – midsize cars; Audi – cars in the deluxe midsize segment; and Horch – luxury cars at the top end of the market.

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    1899: Founding

    August Horch founded his first automobile company, August Horch & Cie, in Cologne in 1899. Shortly after that, in 1909, he set up a new automobile company in Zwickau, which has been operating under the name Audiwerke AG, Zwickau since 1910. This marked the birth of the modern company’s name.

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    1945: End and recommencement

    In 1945, after the war had ended, Auto Union AG's premises were located in the zone occupied by the Soviet forces, who expropriated its assets, dismantled the plant and had the company removed from the Commercial Register of the city of Chemnitz in 1948. 1949/1950, the Auto Union GmbH was founded in Ingolstadt newly.

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    1971: Vorsprung durch Technik

    Focused on the NSU Ro 80, a car that was far ahead of its time, a new advertising slogan was introduced in 1971, which has since become the key message underlining the expertise of the company: “Vorsprung durch Technik” [“Advancement through Technology”].

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