Audi. Listen and you will hear
Audi is a famous automotive brand and one of the world’s leading automotive companies. The things that attract Audi buyers are German quality, elegant exterior lines, comfort, and safety. Power and quality are the requirements that August Horch, the founder of the brand, set.
‘Audio! ’
The ingenious German designer started producing cars under the Audi brand in the early 20th century. The Audi brand was born because the court order prohibited August Horch to name his company Horch because the same name was already given to his former company, which Horch left due to some disputes with his partners. The judge acted fairly and said something like: ‘You want to call it Horch? No problem! But please in another language’. ‘Horch’ is German for ‘listen’. August Horch listened and heard! Once he was listening to his friend’s 10-year-old grandson cramming Latin, inflecting the “audir” (“listen”) verb… Aha! “Audi!” in Latin is for “listen”! That’s how the world-famous brand ‘Audi Automobil-Werke’ was named.
‘Audi! ’ in the Latin is for ‘listen’!
There is a more prosaic version… At the court hearing of the counter-claims of two companies to be named Horch, it was very noisy… everyone argued. The judge got tired of this and shouted: ‘Heren! ’ (‘Listen! ’) Someone in the hall said the same word in Latin: ‘Audio! ’… So they decided to name the new company of August Horch Audi.
The lord of the rings
What’s the origin of Audi rings? These are 4 large German automotive companies: Horch, DKW, Audi, and Wanderer. Yeah-yeah! Horch is Horch’s very first company. Audi is his favorite brainchild. DKW, owned by the Danish engineer Jørgen Rasmussen, bought a controlling stake in Audi. Wanderer and the three companies above merged in 1932 and became a single concern called Auto Union, with the logo of 4 intertwined rings symbolizing this union. August Horch worked as a technical consultant in this company. This is how, decades later, both Horch companies became one. And then the Second World War began… Germany divided into East and West… The Audi plant in Zwickau, in East Germany, fell under the sway of the Soviet Union, and began to produce… ta-dah! Trabant… a plastic mini-car after a beautiful and unique Audi car. Yes… Auto Union AG was expropriated. But, everyone who could, all former employees moved to West Germany, to Bavaria. In 1949, they recreated the company. After August Horch has died, it was renamed Auto Union GmbH. Audi has retained both its company and its logo of 4 intertwined rings.
VAG
In 1965, Audi AG was taken over by Volkswagen, and the VAG concern appeared. 3 years later, in 1968, the production of the legendary Audi 80, and then Audi 100, began. By the way, in the 70s in the US, Audi 80 was offered as Audi Fox. And its estate version was named Audi Fox Wagon. But, most likely, it was just marketing - the car was VW Passat with an Audi logo and looks of Audi 80.
Audi overcame many challenges on its path to success. ‘Audi! ’ – listen and you will hear!
