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Birth of the company and its name

Audi Type EOn November 14, 1899, August Horch (1868–1951) established the company A. Horch & Cie. in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne, but because of dispute between him and the supervisory board, he had to leave the company. A few years later, he established a second company, Horch Automobil-Werke GmbH. The company traces its origins back to 1909 and August Horch. The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10/22 hp (16 kW) Sport-Phaeton, was produced in 1910 in Zwickau.[9]

In 1909, Horch was forced out of the company he had founded.[10] He then started a new company in Zwickau and continued using the Horch brand. His former partners sued him for trademark infringement, and the German Supreme Court (Reichsgericht in Berlin)[11] finally determined that the Horch brand belonged to his former company.[10]

August Horch was barred from using his own family name in his new car business, so he called a meeting with his best business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau. At the apartment of Franz Fikentscher, they discussed how to come up with a new name for the company. During this meeting, Franz's son was quietly studying Latin in a corner of the room. Several times he looked like he was on the verge of saying something but would just swallow his words and continue working, until he finally blurted out, "Father – audiatur et altera pars... wouldn't it be a good idea to call it audi instead of horch?"[12] "Horch!" in German means "Hark!" or "hear", which is "Audi" in Latin. The idea was enthusiastically accepted by everyone attending the meeting.[13] The first Audi car, the Type B, 10/28PS was delivered early in 1910.[14]

Audi started with a 2612 cc inline-four engine model[clarification needed] followed by a 3564 cc model, as well as 4680 cc and 5720 cc models. These cars were successful even in sporting events. The first six cylinder model,[clarification needed] 4655 cc appeared in 1924.

August Horch left the Audi company in 1920 for a high position at the ministry of transport, but he was still involved with Audi as a member of the board of trustees. In September 1921, Audi became the first German car manufacturer to present a production car, the Audi Type K, with left-handed drive.[15] Left-hand drive spread and established dominance during the 1920s because it provided a better view of oncoming traffic, making overtaking safer.[15]

Auto Union eraMain article: Auto Union

In August 1928 Jørgen Rasmussen, the owner of Dampf-Kraft-Wagen (DKW), acquired the majority of shares in Audiwerke AG.[16] In the same year, Rasmussen bought the remains of the U.S. automobile manufacturer Rickenbacker, including the manufacturing equipment for eight cylinder engines. These engines were used in Audi Zwickau and Audi Dresden models that were launched in 1929. At the same time, six-cylinder and four-cylinder (licensed from Peugeot) models were manufactured. Audi cars of that era were luxurious cars equipped with special bodywork.

In 1932, Audi merged with Horch, DKW, and Wanderer, to form Auto Union. It was during this period that the company offered the Audi Front that became the first European car to combine a six-cylinder engine with front-wheel drive. It used a powertrain shared with the Wanderer, but turned 180-degrees, so that the drive shaft faced the front.

Before World War II, Auto Union used the four interlinked rings that make up the Audi badge today, representing these four brands. This badge was used, however, only on Auto Union racing cars in that period while the member companies used their own names and emblems. The technological development became more and more concentrated and some Audi models were propelled by Horch or Wanderer built engines.

Reflecting the economic pressures of the time, Auto Union concentrated increasingly on smaller cars through the 1930s, so that by 1938 the company's DKW brand accounted for 17.9% of the German car market while Audi held only 0.1%.

Audi AG today

Audi plant in Aurangabad, IndiaAudi's sales grew strongly in the 2000s, with deliveries to customers increasing from 653,000 in 2000 to 1,003,000 in 2008. The largest sales increases came from Eastern Europe (+19.3%), Africa (+17.2%) and the Middle East (+58.5%). China in particular has become a key market, representing 108,000 out of 705,000 cars delivered in the first three quarters of 2009. One factor for its popularity is China is that Audis have become the car of choice for purchase by the Chinese government for officials, and purchases by the government are responsible for 20% of its sales in China.[30] As of late 2009, Audi's operating profit of €1.17-billion ($1.85-billion) made it the biggest contributor to parent Volkswagen Group's nine-month operating profit of €1.5-billion, while the other marques in Group such as Bentley and Seat had suffered considerable losses.[31]

Audi has 6 manufacturing plants around the world: Ingolstadt, Germany since 1969, Neckarsulm, Germany since 1969, Györ, Hungary, Changchun, China since 1995, Brussels, Belgium since 2007, Aurangabad, India since 2006.[32]

Technology

Bodyshells

Audi produces 100% galvanised cars to prevent corrosion,[33] and was the first mass-market vehicle to do so, following introduction of the process by Porsche, c.1975. Along with other precautionary measures, the full-body zinc coating has proved to be very effective in preventing rust. The body's resulting durability even surpassed Audi's own expectations, causing the manufacturer to extend its original 10-year warranty against corrosion perforation to currently 12 years (except for aluminium bodies which don't rust).[34]

An all-aluminium car was brought forward by Audi, and in 1994 the Audi A8 was launched, which introduced aluminium space frame technology (called Audi Space Frame). Audi introduced a new series of vehicles in the mid-nineties and continues to new technology and high performance. Prior to that effort, Audi used examples of the Type 44 chassis fabricated out of aluminium as test-beds for the technique.

Drive layout

In all its post Volkswagen-era models, Audi has firmly refused to adopt the traditional rear-wheel drive layout favored by its two arch rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW, favoring either front-wheel drive or all wheel drive. The majority of Audi's lineup in the United States features all wheel drive standard on most of its expensive vehicles (only the entry-level trims of the A4 and A6 are available with front-wheel drive), in contrast to Mercedes-Benz and BMW whose lineup treats all-wheel drive as an option (BMW only started offering all-wheel drive on its 7 Series starting in the 2010 model year, while the Audi A8 has had all-wheel drive available/standard since the 1990s). Regarding high-performance variants, Audi S and RS models have always had all-wheel drive, unlike their direct rivals from BMW M and Mercedes-AMG which are rear-wheel drive only.

For most of its lineup (excluding the less expensive A3 and A1), Audi has not adopted the traverse engine layout which is found in economy cars, since that would limit the type and power of engines that can be installed. In order to be able to mount powerful engines (such as a V8 engine in the Audi S4 and Audi RS4), Audi has usually engineered its more expensive cars with a longitudinally front mounted engine, in an "overhung" position, over the front wheels in front of the axle line. While this allows for the easy adoption of all wheel drive, it goes against the ideal 50:50 weight distribution (as do all front wheel drive cars).

Audi has recently applied the quattro badge to models such as the A3 and TT which do not use the Torsen-based system as in prior years, with a mechanical centre differential, but with the Swedish Haldex Traction electro-mechanical clutch AWD system.

Space frame

Replacing the Audi V8 in 1994, the Audi A8 debuted with an aluminum space frame (the "Audi Space Frame" or ASF) which saves weight and improves torsion rigidity compared to a conventional steel frame. The weight reduction is somewhat offset by the quattro four-wheel drive system which is standard in most markets. Nonetheless, the A8 is usually the lightest all-wheel drive car in the full-size luxury segment, also having best-in-class fuel economy.[35] The disadvantage of the aluminum frame is that it is very expensive to repair and requires a specialized aluminum bodyshop.[36]

The Audi A2, Audi TT and Audi R8 also use Audi Space Frame designs.

Audi A2

The Audi A2 was a futuristic super mini born from the Al2 concept. It featured many features that gave Audi the cutting edge technology that it had lacked for years, like the aluminium space frame which was a first in production car design. In the A2 Audi further expanded their TDI technology through the use of frugal three cylinder engines. The A2 was extremely aerodynamic and was designed around a wind tunnel. The Audi A2 was criticised for its high price and was never really a sales success but it planted Audi as a cutting edge manufacturer. The model, a Mercedes-Benz A-Class competitor, sold relatively well in Europe. However, the A2 was discontinued in 2005 and Audi decided not to develop an immediate replacement.

Audi A4

The next major model change came in 1995 when the Audi A4 replaced the Audi 80. The new nomenclature scheme was applied to the Audi 100 to become the Audi A6 (with a minor facelift). This also meant the S4 became the S6 and a new S4 was introduced in the A4 body. The S2 was discontinued. The Audi Cabriolet continued on (based on the Audi 80 platform) until 1999, gaining the engine upgrades along the way. A new A3 hatchback model (sharing the Volkswagen Golf Mk4's platform) was introduced to the range in 1996, and the radical Audi TT coupé and roadster were debuted in 1998 based on the same underpinnings.

The engines available throughout the range were now a 1.4L, 1.6L and 1.8L 4 cylinder, 1.8L 4-cylinder turbo, 2.6L and 2.8L V6, 2.2L turbo-charged 5 cylinder and the 4.2L V8 engine. The V6s were replaced by new 2.4L and 2.8L 30V V6s in 1998, with marked improvement in power, torque and smoothness. Further engines were added along the way, including a 3.7L V8 and 6.0L W12 engine for the A8.

Direct-Shift Gearbox

At the turn of the century, Volkswagen introduced the Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG), a type of dual clutch transmission. It is an automated semi-automatic transmission, drivable like a conventional automatic transmission. Based on the gearbox found in the Group B S1, the system includes dual electrohydraulically controlled clutches instead of a torque converter. This is implemented in some VW Golfs, Audi A3 and TT models where DSG is called S-tronic.

Fuel Stratified Injection

New models of the A3, A4, A6 and A8 have been introduced, with the aging 1.8 litre engine now having been replaced by new Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI) engines. Nearly every petroleum burning model in the range now incorporates this fuel-saving technology, including the following:

Engines

In the 1980s, Audi, along with Volvo, was the champion of the inline 5 cylinder, 2.1/2.2 L engine as a longer-lasting alternative to more traditional 6 cylinder engines. This engine was used not only in production cars but also in their race cars. The 2.1 L inline 5 cylinder engine was used as a base for the rally cars in the 1980s, providing well over 400 horsepower (298 kW) after modification. Before 1990, there were engines produced with a displacement between 2.0 L and 2.3 L. This range of engine capacity allowed for both fuel economy and power.

Volkswagen Group W12 engine from the Volkswagen Phaeton W12For the ultra-luxury version of its Audi A8 fullsize luxury flagship sedan, the Audi A8L W12, Audi uses the Volkswagen Group W12 engine instead of the conventional V12 engine favored by rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The W12 engine configuration (also known as a "WR12") is created by forming two imaginary narrow-angle 15° VR6 engines at an angle of 72°, and the narrow angle of each set of cylinders allows just two overhead camshafts to drive each pair of banks, so just four are needed in total.[41] The advantage of the W12 engine is its compact packaging, allowing Audi to build a 12-cylinder sedan with all-wheel drive, whereas a conventional V12 engine could only have a rear-wheel drive configuration as it would have no space in the engine bay for a differential and other components required to power the front wheels. In fact, the 6.0L W12 in the Audi A8L W12 is actually a bit smaller by overall dimensions than the 4.2L V8 that powers the Audi A8 4.2 variants. [42] The 2011 Audi A8 debuted a revised 6.3 liter version of the W12 (WR12) engine with 500 PS.