Current models
A3
A4
A5
A6
A8
Q7
Allroad Quattro
RS4
R8
S3
S4
S5
S6
S8
TT

Discontinued models
50
Audi and Audi 60/72/75/80/Super 90
80/90/4000/Coupé/Cabriolet
100/200/5000
A2
Quattro
RS2
RS6
S2
UrS4/S6
V8

Racing models
Sport Quattro
R8
R10 (current model)
Sport

Prototypes and concept cars
A1
A7
Allroad Quattro Concept
Avantissimo
Avus Quattro
Le Mans Quattro
Nuvolari Quattro
Pikes Peak Quattro
Q3
Q5
Roadjet
RSQ (from I, Robot)
Shooting Brake
Audi R-Zero

The company traces its origins back to 1899 and August Horch. The first Horch automobile was produced in 1901 in Zwickau. In 1909, Horch was forced out of the company he had founded. He then started a new company in Zwickau and continued using the Horch brand. His former partners sued him for trademark infringement and a German court determined that the Horch brand belonged to his former company. August Horch was forced to refrain from using his own family name in his new car business. Horch immediately called a meeting at the apartment of Franz Fikentscher to come up with a new name for his 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?". "Horch!" in German means "Hark!" which is "Audi" in Latin. The idea was enthusiastically accepted by everyone attending the meeting. [1] It is also popularly (but incorrectly) believed that Audi is an acronym which stands for "Auto Union Deutschland Ingolstadt".


Audi HQAudi started with a 2612 cc (2.6 liter) four cylinder model followed by a 3564 cc (3.6 L) model, as well as 4680 cc (4.7 L) and 5720 cc (5.7L) models. These cars were successful even in sporting events. August Horch left the Audi company in 1920. The first six cylinder model, 4655 cc (4.7 L) appeared in 1924. In 1928, the company was acquired by Jørgen Rasmussen, owner of DKW, who bought the same year the remains of the US 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.

Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer with headquarters in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, and has been an almost wholly owned (99.7%) subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1964. The company evolved from Auto Union, NSU, Horch and DKW the former having incorporated the historic Audi company which was originally founded in 1910.

Audi's German tagline is "Vorsprung durch Technik", meaning "Advancement Through Technology", implying an advantage due to superior technology. The American tagline is "Truth in Engineering". The Japanese tagline is "Never Follow", the old American tagline.