Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer that designs, engineers, produces, markets, and distributes automobiles throughout the world. Audi oversees its worldwide operations from its headquarters in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany, while Audi-branded vehicles are produced across nine separate production facilities worldwide. Founded in 1909 by August Horch, Audi–originally known as August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH—has been a majority owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Group since 1966–a company that relaunched the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series–and currently has a market cap of more than $27.02 billion. A member of the “German Big 3” luxury automakers, along with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Audi is one of the best selling luxury automakers in the world and brought in a revenue of $63.1 billion in 2013. The Audi name is based on the the Latin translation of the founder’s surname–“Horch,” meaning “listen” in German, becomes “audi” in Latin. Audi’s slogan throughout the world is “Advancement in Technology,” while recently, in the United States, Audi has updated its slogan to “Truth in Engineering.” The German automaker also updated its iconic four ring logo–a logo with an interesting history–following the company’s centennial celebration in 2009. Designed by Rayan Abdullah, the logo’s font and shading for the overlapping rings was altered.
The Audi four ring logo is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable logos in the world of luxury automobiles. In August 1928, Jørgen Rasmussen, a Danish engineer, industrialist, and the owner of Dampf-Kraft-Wagen (DKW), acquired the majority of shares in Audi. That same year, Rasmussen bought the remains of the U.S. automobile manufacturer Rickenbacker, including the manufacturing equipment for eight-cylinder engines which were used in Audi’s 1929 models. In 1932, Audi merged with Horch (who left the company in 1920 for a high position at the ministry of transport), DKW, and German automobile manufacturer Wanderer to found Auto Union AG, an amalgamation established four years later in Chemnitz, Saxony during the Great Depression. Before World War II, Auto Union used the four interlinked rings that make up the Audi logo today, representing each of the four aforementioned brands–the first represents Audi, the second represents DKW, the third represents Horch, and the fourth represents Wanderer. However, the four ring logo was used only on Auto Union racing cars in that period, while the member companies used their own names and emblems. In 1995, the logo’s similarity to the Olympic rings caused the International Olympic Committee to sue Audi in International Trademark Court, to which they lost. The Auto Union was widely known for its racing team, which set records that have remained unbroken as of 2013, including the fastest speed ever attained on a public road (268.9 mph) and has since evolved into present-day Audi AG.
Check out the newest official Audi four rings logo and a video featuring the new Audi RS7 concept car below. Visit audiusa.com for more information.
Photo by flippywall.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOYsI1cqUrw
Video by Audi Deutschland/YouTube.com
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
