Audi AG, more commonly known as Audi, is a premium German automobile manufacturer
and one of the world's leading performance-luxury marques, with headquarters in
Ingolstadt, Bavaria. It has been an almost wholly-owned (99.7%) subsidiary of
the Volkswagen Group since 1964, and is held in ownership by its shareholders
- hence the term "Aktiengesellschaft" or "AG". The company evolved from VW's takeover
of both Auto Union, and NSU, the former having incorporated the historic
Audi company which was founded in 1910.
Audi's corporate tagline is
Vorsprung durch Technik, meaning "Lead through Technology" or "Leading by (superior)
technology". This German-language tagline is also used in other European
countries, including the UK, and in other markets, such as Latin America, Oceania
and parts of Asia including Japan. The American and Canadian tagline is "Truth
in Engineering".
The company traces its origins back to 1899 and
August Horch. The first Horch automobile was produced in 1901 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 a German court determined that the Horch brand
belonged to his former company. August Horch was forced to refrain from using
his own family name in his new car business. Horch immediately called a meeting
at the apartment of Franz Fikentscher to come up with a new name for his company.
|
