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Audi (Audi), a German company specializing in the production of passenger cars. Part of the Volkswagen concern. The headquarters is in Ingoldstadt.

The Audi company was founded in 1909 by August Horch. Its roots go back to the now defunct, but no less famous in the past company Horch ("Horch"), which shone in the German sky during the Third Reich. In 1899, the talented inventor August Horch founded Horch and Company in Mannheim, which moved to Zwickau four years later. In 1909 he built a new weightma unsuccessful 6-cylinder engine, which almost brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy, which greatly angered his partners, who decided to deal with the zealous inventor and expel him from their own company. But Horch immediately founded another company nearby, which, of course, also bore the name Horch. His former partners, sensing a strong competitor in the young firm, filed a lawsuit against Horch demanding to change the name of the firm. According to the court's decision, the new car manufacturing enterprise could not bear a name.Horch, and August Horch turned to the Latinized version of the former name: the word horch, meaning "listen" in German, became audi. So in 1909 the famous trade mark and no less famous company "Audi" was born.

The first car called Audi-A was produced in 1910. The Audi-B model followed the next year. Horch exhibited three of these cars in June 1911 at the first Auto Alpenfart races in the Austrian Alps, about 2500 km long, which replaced the famous races for the prize of the German Prince Heinrich.

In 1912, the most andfamous model - Audi-S. In the same year, its first samples passed a serious test at the next Alpine races and achieved good results, for which the cars of the C series were called "Alpenziger" or "Conqueror of the Alps".

In the 1920s, Audi was on the brink of bankruptcy. She had to merge with another firm.

In 1928 the company was acquired by the German DKW (DKW), Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen became the owner of Audi.

In 1932, the economic crisis prompted a number of German firms to create the Auto Union concern. It was entered onPoison with DKW and Wanderer are former rival firms Horch and Audi. The concern released two models equipped with front-wheel drive and Wanderer engines. The cars sold well until the outbreak of World War II.

After World War II, Audi and other Auto Union partner firms were nationalized. They were transformed into a division of the Association of People's Enterprises for the Production of Cars.

In 1949 Auto Union was reformed by attracting the majority of the shares of Mercedes-Benz (Mercedes-Benz).

In 1958 Daimler-Benz AG acquired a majority stake in Auto Union, but then sold them to Volkswagen. After the transfer in 1965 of a controlling stake to Volkswagen ("Volkswagen"), the name Audi began to be used again. Shortly after this event, a new front-wheel drive car was launched, and by the end of 1968 Audi was back on the market with a good range of models and excellent sales statistics. The four circles were retained as the emblem, symbolizing the merger of the four companies in 1932.

Model "100", which appeared on the market in 1968, as well as its lastThe owners, including the famous Audi Quattro, were distinguished by a sporty profile and four-wheel drive, which was a new milestone in the German automotive industry. It was the Quattro model, which appeared in 1980, that gave a powerful impetus to the development of the automotive industry and brought Audi, a Volkswagen subsidiary, worldwide fame. It was a light, fast Gran Turismo with excellent stability, a type of rally car. It was difficult for competitors to compete with this rally Quattro. The model performed exceptionally well in several avlights.

In 1969, Volkswagen bought the Neckarsulmer Automobilwerke (NSU Automobile Plant in Neckarsulm). As a result, the name of the company changed, the company became known as Audi NSU Auto Union, and in the summer of 1985 the name of the company was transformed again into Audi AG.

Since 1970, Audi began exporting extensively to the United States. At first, exports to the USA were limited to the Audi Super 90 (sedan and station wagon). as well as the new Audi 100.Since 1973, they were joined by the Audi 80.which, unlike the European version, existed as an Audi 80 station wagon (in fact, a VW Passat Variant with a higher equipment level)... Later, Audi models received their own designations in the US market: Audi 4000 for the Audi 80. Audi 5000 for the Audi 100. However, repeated cases of manufacturer liability violations for their products since the mid-1980s led to a decline in Audi shipments to the USA.

In 1980, the all-wheel-drive sports coupe attracted a lot of attention at the Audi booth at the Geneva Motor Show. For the first time, a lightweight all-wheel drive high-performance vehicle was offered as an Audi quattro with an all-wheel drive concept, which until now has only been used in trucks and SUVs.NS. The idea of such a passenger car arose in the winter of 1976/77 during test drives on the VW Iltis SUV being developed for the Bundeswehr. The excellent behavior of this car when driving on ice and snow led to the idea of introducing the VW Iltis all-wheel drive in the serial Audi 80. An increased power option was also developed - a five-cylinder 2.2-liter turbo engine with 147 kW / 200 hp, presented in the fall of 1979. with.

In 1982, the Audi 80 quattro launched the large-scale production of permanent all-wheel drive. Gradually, the quattro concept was introducedalso for other Audi model series.

On the basis of the Audi 80, a sports coupe (Audi Coupe) was produced, which debuted at the end of 1993. The convertible version was first introduced in Geneva in 1991. This veteran of the Audi family was discontinued in mid-2000. Since 1992, they have produced about 72 thousand pieces.

In December 1990, the new Audi 100 (internal designation C4) was presented, which for the first time in the company's history was also offered with a V-shaped six-cylinder engine. Compact (128 kW. 174 hp) strong unit with a displacementThe 2.8 liter engine was the shortest and lightest in its class.

The Audi A4 is the successor to the Audi 80 from 1986-1994. It was first introduced in October 1994.

In 2001, the A4 Avant station wagon and the A4 Cabrio coupe-cabriolet were released, which will receive a folding hardtop (like the Mercedes-Benz SLK) and, obviously, will be assembled at the Karmann plant.

Audi A8 flagship of the Audi lineup was first shown in February 1994

In May 1994, the public was presented with a five-seater RS2 Avant with a 2.2-liter 315-horsepower turbo-injection engine.

The Audi A3 is built on a platformme Golf IV. The first show of the model took place in June 1996. The production of the Audi A3 began in 1997.

The Audi A6 was first presented as a sedan at the Geneva Motor Show in 1997. In February 1998, the A6 Avant was introduced with a station wagon. All models of the C4 platform were discontinued in the summer of 1997 in connection with the development of the completely new A6 (4B-type).

From the moment the concept Audi A2 was shown in the fall of 1997, to the start of serial production (early 2000) of the A2 model, a little more than two years passed. This is how Audi has a new family of European passenger cars.size class B.

AUDI S4 / S4 Avante / RS4, high-performance sports modification of the Audi A4 with 2.7-V6-Biturbo engine. It was first presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1997. In 1999, a modification of the RS4 Avante with a 2.7-V6-Biturbo engine (380 hp) was presented.

In the fall of 1996, the "sports" configurations S6 / S6 Avant appeared.

The Audi TT sports car with a coupe body was first presented in Geneva in September 1998, with a roadster body in August 1999. A prototype of the model was presented at the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show.

AUDI S3, sports modification of AudiA3 with 1.8 20V turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive transmission, with high power. It was first introduced in March 1999.

AUDI S8, the high-performance sports version of the Audi A8 with a 4.2 V8 engine and all-wheel drive. It was first shown in early 1998.

The Audi Allroad, an off-road model based on the A6 Avant, was first introduced in February 2000.

Currently, Audi, which is part of the Volkswagen concern, is experiencing a boom. This success became possible thanks to new developments of the company.

List of the Audi models