type public aktiengesellschaft traded as fwb nsu industry automotive predecessor auto union gmbh nsu motorenwerke ag founded historic zwickau germany 25 april 1910 ; 106 years ago 1910 04 25 2 modern era neckarsulm germany 1 january 1969 ; 47 years ago 1969 01 01 3 founder august horch 2 headquarters ingolstadt germany number of locations 11 production facilities in 9 countries 4 area served worldwide key people rupert stadler chairman of the board of management marc lichte head of design ulrich hackenberg head of technical development products luxury vehicles production output 2 024 881 units 2015 5 revenue 58.42 billion 2015 6 operating income 4.836 billion 2015 6 profit 4.297 billion 2015 6 total assets 16.832 billion 2009 total equity 3.451 billion 2009 owner volkswagen group 99.55 % number of employees 84 435 2015 5 parent volkswagen group divisions audi e tron audi india subsidiaries audi brussels audi hungaria motor kft . ducati italdesign giugiaro lamborghini quattro gmbh website www.audi.com index.html footnotes references audi history chronicle 7 2011 annual financial report 8 audi ag 1 pronounced a d a ge listen is a german automobile manufacturer that designs engineers produces markets and distributes luxury vehicles . audi oversees worldwide operations from its headquarters in ingolstadt bavaria germany . audi branded vehicles are produced in nine production facilities worldwide . the origins of the company are complex going back to the early 20th century and the initial enterprises horch and the audiwerke founded by engineer august horch ; and two other manufacturers dkw and wanderer leading to the foundation of auto union in 1932 . the modern era of audi essentially began in the 1960s when auto union was acquired by volkswagen from daimler benz . 9 after relaunching the audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the audi f103 series volkswagen merged auto union with nsu motorenwerke in 1969 thus creating the present day form of the company . the company name is based on the latin translation of the surname of the founder august horch . horch meaning listen in german becomes audi in latin . the four rings of the audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create audi s predecessor company auto union . audi s slogan is vorsprung durch technik meaning advancement through technology . however since 2007 audi usa has used the slogan truth in engineering . 10 audi is among the best selling luxury automobiles in the world . 11 contents 1 history 1.1 birth of the company and its name 1.2 the merger of the four companies under the logo of four rings 1.3 post world war ii 1.4 new auto union unit 1.5 modern era 1.6 audi 5000 unintended acceleration allegations 1.7 model introductions 1.8 audi ag today 2 technology 2.1 bodyshells 2.2 space frame 2.3 drivetrains 2.3.1 layout 2.3.2 engines 2.3.3 fuel stratified injection 2.3.4 direct shift gearbox 2.4 led daytime running lights 2.5 multi media interface 2.6 synthetic diesel 3 models 3.1 current model range 3.2 s and rs models 3.3 electric vehicles 4 production figures 5 motorsport 5.1 rallying 5.2 in the usa 5.3 touring cars 5.4 24 hours of le mans 5.4.1 results 5.5 american le mans series 5.5.1 results 5.6 european le mans series 5.6.1 results 5.7 world endurance championship 5.7.1 2012 5.7.2 2013 5.7.3 2014 5.7.4 results 5.8 formula e 5.9 formula one 6 marketing 6.1 branding 6.1.1 slogans 6.1.2 typography 6.2 sponsorships 6.3 multitronic campaign 6.4 audi tdi 6.5 audi e tron 6.6 in video games 7 see also 8 notes 9 references 10 external links history birth of the company and its name originally in 1885 automobile company wanderer was established later becoming a branch of audi ag . another company nsu which also later merged into audi was founded during this time and later supplied the chassis for gottlieb daimler s four wheeler . 12 on 14 november 1899 august horch 1868 1951 established the company a. horch & cie. in the ehrenfeld district of cologne . three years later in 1902 he moved with his company to reichenbach im vogtland . on may 10th 1904 he founded the august horch & cie. motorwagenwerke ag a joint stock company in zwickau state of saxony . after troubles with horch chief financial officer august horch left motorwagenwerke and founded in zwickau on 16 july 1909 his second company the august horch automobilwerke gmbh . his former partners sued him for trademark infringement . the german reichsgericht supreme court in leipzig 13 eventually determined that the horch brand belonged to his former company . 14 audi type e since august horch was banned from using horch as a trade name in his new car business he called a meeting with close business friends paul and franz fikentscher from zwickau germany . 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 15 horch in german means hark or hear which is audi in the singular imperative form of audire to listen in latin . the idea was enthusiastically accepted by everyone attending the meeting . 16 on 25 april 1910 the audi automobilwerke gmbh zwickau from 1915 on audiwerke ag zwickau was entered in the company s register of zwickau registration court . the first audi automobile the audi type a 10 22 hp 16 kw sport phaeton was produced in the same year 17 followed by the successor type b 10 28ps in the same year . 18 audi started with a 2 612 cc inline four engine model type a followed by a 3 564 cc model as well as 4 680 cc and 5 720 cc models . these cars were successful even in sporting events . the first six cylinder model type m 4 655 cc appeared in 1924 . 19 august horch left the audiwerke 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 . 20 left hand drive spread and established dominance during the 1920s because it provided a better view of oncoming traffic making overtaking safer . 20 the merger of the four companies under the logo of four rings main article auto union in august 1928 j rgen rasmussen the owner of dampf kraft wagen dkw acquired the majority of shares in audiwerke ag . 21 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 the four with a peugeot engine 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 ag chemnitz . 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 % . after the final few audis were delivered in 1939 the audi name disappeared completely from the new car market for more than two decades . post world war ii ifa f9 like most german manufacturing at the onset of world war ii the auto union plants were retooled for military production and were a target for allied bombing during the war which left them damaged . overrun by the soviet army in 1945 on the orders of the soviet union military administration the factories were dismantled as part of war reparations . 22 following this the company s entire assets were expropriated without compensation . 22 on 17 august 1948 auto union ag of chemnitz was deleted from the commercial register . 21 these actions had the effect of liquidating germany s auto union ag . the remains of the audi plant of zwickau became the veb for people owned enterprise automobilwerk zwickau or awz in english automobile works zwickau . with no prospect of continuing production in soviet controlled east germany auto union executives began the process of relocating what was left of the company to west germany . a site was chosen in ingolstadt bavaria to start a spare parts operation in late 1945 which would eventually serve as the headquarters of the reformed auto union in 1949 . the former audi factory in zwickau restarted assembly of the pre war models in 1949 . these dkw models were renamed to ifa f8 and ifa f9 and were similar to the west german versions . west and east german models were equipped with the traditional and renowned dkw two stroke engines . the zwickau plant manufactured the infamous trabant until 1991 when it came under volkswagen control effectively bringing it under the same umbrella as audi since 1945 . new auto union unit a new west german headquartered auto union was launched in ingolstadt bavaria with loans from the bavarian state government and marshall plan aid . 22 the reformed company was launched 3 september 1949 and continued dkw s tradition of producing front wheel drive vehicles with two stroke engines . 22 this included production of a small but sturdy 125 cc motorcycle and a dkw delivery van the dkw f89 l at ingolstadt . the ingolstadt site was large consisting of an extensive complex of formerly military buildings which was suitable for administration as well as vehicle warehousing and distribution but at this stage there was at ingolstadt no dedicated plant suitable for mass production of automobiles for manufacturing the company s first post war mass market passenger car plant capacity in d sseldorf was rented from rheinmetall borsig . it was only ten years later after the company had attracted an investor that funds became available for construction of major car plant at the ingolstadt head office site . in 1958 in response to pressure from friedrich flick then their largest single shareholder 23 daimler benz took an 87 % holding in the auto union company and this was increased to a 100 % holding in 1959 . however small two stroke cars were not the focus of daimler benz s interests and while the early 1960s saw major investment in new mercedes models and in a state of the art factory for auto union s the company s aging model range at this time did not benefit from the economic boom of the early 1960s to the same extent as competitor manufacturers such as volkswagen and opel . the decision to dispose of the