Who Manufacturers Audi Cars?

Who manufacturers Audi Cars? It seems like a simple question, but Audi is a complex company because of its ownership relationship.

Audi was started in 1899 by a German inventor named August Horch. The company was known as Horch. The first car was built in 1901. A power struggle with investors ensued and August Horch was booted out of his own company and barred from using the name in 1909. As you can imagine, he was a bit bitter about not being allowed to use his family name in any subsequent car company he formed!

August Horch decided to move forward with a car company anyway, but he needed a name. It was his nephew that came up with the name, suggesting the Latin version. Yes, Horch loosely translates to Audi in Latin. By 1920, Horsch had again left the company even if it was now carrying the Latin version of his name.

The Audi name was a mobile one when it came to ownership. Various groups have owned it through time. A sampling of the owners included DKW, Auto Union and NSU. The ultimate owner became the huge Volkswagen Group, which owns Audi to this day. Audi is considered a premium company in the group and is now known as Audi AG.

So, why does this matter? Well, it tells us much about who manufacturers Audi cars. The strictly technical answer is Audi AG manufacturers the cars. That being said, it is well know that Audi is viewed as a premium brand and many new technologies developed across the Volkswagen Group are first filtered through the Audi cars being built. As a result, one can say that Audi cars are manufactured more as part of the Volkswagen Group than just by Audi AG itself.

The Audi brand has come a long way over the years. Often viewed as the weakest brand in the German auto industry, it is now one of the leaders. From the A4 to dynamic A8 models, Audi is a brand to be admired world wide.

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