Behind the German Audi brand, which has a considerable place in the world automobile market today, there is a complex and interesting story full of Nazis, sales and lawsuits. Let’s take a closer look at the story of the Audi brand, one of the world’s automobile giants, and its journey that will be the subject of novels.
During any car chat Not to mention Audi brand cars. Although the German automotive giant is a world-renowned name today, of course, like any success, this did not happen in a day. Born in a small production factory Audi brand has produced vehicles for the Nazis in its journey from its establishment to the present, has been purchased many times and has struggled with lawsuits that almost came to a close.
In Germany, a state that took part in all the bloody wars in history and even split into two for a while, Audi It was unthinkable that the brand would have a comfortable story. Everything that happens to the country It also influenced the Audi brand, Sometimes it made it inoperable and even came to the point of closing the shutters and leaving. Yet Audi somehow endured and became one of the auto giants we know today.
At the end of the 1800s, the foundations of the Audi brand were laid:
At the end of the 1800s, which is not the previous, but the previous century; To give the exact date In 1885, by August Horch A company called Wanderer Company was founded. August Horch, who founded one company in 1899 and another in 1904, has clearly come to the fore. The names of the companies he founded were almost the same as the name of the old company he worked for.
After the trademark infringement lawsuit against August Horch was concluded, all these companies were closed and they only had Audiwerke AG Zwickau company left. So the Audi we know. German ‘to listen’ The word Horch, which means, is the equivalent of the Latin word Audi. Zwickau is the name of the city in the state of Saxony where the factory was established. The company officially took this name in 1915.
The first left hand drive car model:
The first car of the Audi company, released in 1910 It was the Audi Type A Sport-Phaeton model. The second model, the Type B, was launched in the same year. Both models were used for sporting events rather than for daily use, and have won the Austrian Alpine Run three times in a row.
As in every story, in Audi’s story too The founder of the company leaves. August Horch’s reason for leaving was to secure a high position in the transport ministry. Fortunately, by the time August Horch left, Audi had already become a proven brand. In this way, production continued without slowing down.
In 1920, Audi launched the Audi Type K model. This model had historical significance because the Type K, It was the first German car to be produced with left-hand drive. Having the steering wheel on the left was both healthier in terms of safety and offered an easier handling to the drivers. Therefore, from this date on, left-hand drive cars quickly became widespread.
The Audi logo appears:
The appearance of the Audi logo, which is known by everyone today and has become one of the most important iconic symbols of history, took place years after its foundation. The reason for the logo Not to represent the Audi brand, It was to represent an automobile union.
In 1928, Swedish engineer Jørgen Rasmussen bought a majority stake in Audi. In 1932, Auto Union was formed with Audi, which merged with the companies DKW, Wanderer and Horch. In fact, four interlocking rings that will become the logo of the Audi brand in the coming years. To represent the Auto Union union had been created.
Everyone has noticed the similarity between the Audi logo and the logo of the Olympic games. The Olympic Committee realized this and sued the company in 1995. The court decision found the Olympic Committee unfair and between the two logos there is no similarity has ruled. Of course, there is a visual similarity, but there is no violation of ideas.
Hitler wants armored vehicles:
In the following years, everything went well for Audi, the union was working well. It even produces a front-wheel drive car model with a six-cylinder engine. It was the first European automobile company. Then, World War II, which would bring the whole world to dust, started and Audi had to direct its production power to a different area.
We don’t know if he really had to, but all of Audi’s factories stopped car production during World War II. It began to produce armored vehicles for the German army. Audi factories trying to produce armored vehicles for Hitler caught the attention of the Allied forces and were repeatedly targeted by bombers. Fortunately, the war somehow ended.
The end of the war was an even greater devastation for Audi. Because the Zwickau factory, which is the main production point, He remained in the Soviet-influenced East Germany region. The factory was dismantled piecemeal as war reparations and Auto Union was wiped from the business register in 1948.
The production point was moved to the freer West German region by the rulers. If the factory in East Germany is It somehow continued production, though not under the Audi name. The Trabant model produced here was accepted as a figure symbolizing the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the following years. More than 3 million of the Trabant model, which was mediocre in its simplest definition, were produced.
Audi has been repeatedly bought by different companies:
Re-established in 1949 within the scope of Marshall aids made by the United States of America, Audi continues to produce front-wheel drive vehicles, but it has never had a chance. could not find enough capital for mass production. The company was in a difficult situation.
Desiring to take advantage of this difficult situation, Daimler-Benz bought a part of the company in 1959, then the whole. However, since the production model was not suitable for them, later on they disposed of it. In 1969, Audi was bought by Volkswagen, another important automobile giant.
Volkswagen did not want Audi to design cars under its own brand name. They wanted to use Audi factories as a kind of spare parts production point. Audi engineers did not accept this situation and By producing the Audi 80 model in 1972 they put it on the market. Audi had shed its dead soil and became independent again.
The case that brought the company to the point of closure:
Of course, everything did not go well again and this time the blow came from the new continent. 6 people in the United States, Unwanted acceleration problem in Audi 5000 model He sued because of it. They claimed that 6 deaths and 700 crashes between 1982 and 1987 were due to unintentional acceleration failure seen in the Audi 5000 model.
As a result of the research on these events mentioned in a program called 60 Minutes, it was revealed that all these events were fictionalized by the producers of the program. Due to a minor flaw in the system, the vehicle accelerates slightly, but The accident was not caused by this little acceleration, but by the excited driver. Audi was found not guilty as a result of the lawsuit.
Audi in the 21st century:
As we all know, Audi has reached a level where it can compete with companies that try to buy it on time. With models such as Audi A3, A6, Q2 Continuing to bring new breaths to the automotive world, the company claims that some models of Volkswagen vehicles are affected by the emission system.
Having gained a significant place in the world automobile market, The journey of the Audi brand from past to present We told his story full of wars, lawsuits, sales. The most important lesson to be learned from the Audi story seems to be never to give up.