German sport luxury brand Audi has played a strong role in helping to shape shopper tastes and influence the entire European touring market. For virtually a hundred years, the Audi brand has been synonymous with manufacturing prime quality, trustworthy, and well engineered vehicles. An wierd start nearly scuttled the company’s plans, yet today Audi has risen above adversity and is manufacturing vehicles that are world respected in quality and engineering.
August Horch founded Horch Automotive in Cologne, Germany in 1899, and started producing vehicles in 1901 which featured a horizontal engine producing upwards of 5 horsepower. Demand for these models propelled Horch to expand production and move to a bigger producing facility where a newer, stronger model pushing out a then-amazing 10 horsepower was released.
By 1910, Horch himself was booted out of the company that sported his name so he set up shop some place else and started to sell autos under the Audi moniker. Originally, Horch attempted to use his family name, but German courts ruled against him thus the Audi name was chosen instead. In German, Horch means “hark” and the word “audi” is the Latin interpretation of horch/hark. So, though he could legally no longer use his folks name, the Latinized version of the same won out. Guess which name is known today?
In between a pair of devastating world wars, the modern Audi company started to take shape. Indeed, the “four rings” brand of the company represents the union of four distinct German automotive makers under the auspices of Audi. Yes, you guessed it: the Horch company that originally booted Mr. Horch was soaked up by Audi and makes up one of the 4 rings. August Horch lived to see that day, but he also witnessed the dismantling of the company following the end of the second world war.
Reparations was the rallying cry when World War Two stopped, thus thus the Soviet Union who was occupying the eastern portion of Germany in the postwar age, took the company, took all of its assets, and by August 1948 the company no longer existed. One year later thanks to state loans and Marshall plan assistance, a resurrected Audi was back on the scene manufacturing a delivery van and a bike. Constant expansion across the 1950s highlighted by Daimler’s acquisition of the company in 1958 fueled further enlargement. In 1964, the Volkswagen group bought Audi from Daimler and to this day Audi remains a big part of the Volkswagen establishment.
By the late 1960s, Audi commenced what many consider its historical run its important run to the top of car models were developed several of which were also sold as Volkswagen models for that era. In 1980, Audi shook the automobile world to its foundation when it released its Quattro sports automobile, a vehicle with full time all wheel drive and a turbocharged engine. Instantly, the Quattro propelled the Audi name to the apex of the race automobile world when the vehicle began to win race upon race. Definitely , the Quattro was such a runaway hit that the model was excluded from some races for having an “unfair” technological advantage.
Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, Audi started to produce further models including its first premium model, the Audi V8 in 1988. Carrying a 3.6L 32-valve V8 engine, the Audi V8 featured full time all wheel drive and a 4 speed electronically controlled automatic transmission. This model was a huge departure from earlier Audis and set the brand on a collision course with Mercedes and BMW, Germany’s two other luxury brands in a bid for car supremacy.
Today, Audi continues to grow and compete against all the top luxury brands in the world. New technology including its Audi Space Frame all-aluminum body – renowned for its rigidity and improved crashworthiness – are among the highlights of a brand that doesn’t settle for second choice. From sedans to sport coupes to an all new SUV, Audi has a model that competes against the likes of Lexus, Mercedes, Cadillac, Infiniti, and BMW its chief competitors.
That “hark” sound you hear is both the name of a company and the awareness the brand merits in an ocean of able premium models produced by Germany’s esteemed Volkswagen Group. Yes, Audi has weathered several hurricanes and the company appears stood to keep on its drive forward thanks to its many inventions and continued prime quality.
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