Audi

Audi was founded by the creator of Horch cars, August Horch, at Zwickau in East Germany, Audi became part of the Auto-Union in 1932, was nationalized in 1945, and became defunct until 1965.

Audi AG is an automobile manufacturer that designs, engineers, produces, markets and distributes luxury automobiles. Audi oversees worldwide operations from its headquarters in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. Audi-branded vehicles are produced in nine production facilities worldwide.

Audi has been a majority owned (99.55%) subsidiary of Volkswagen Group since 1966, following a phased purchase of Audi AG's predecessor, Auto Union, from Daimler-Benz. Volkswagen relaunched the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series.

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 "Advantage through Technology". However, since 2007 Audi USA has used the slogan "Truth in Engineering". Audi is a member of the "German Big 3" luxury automakers, along with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which are the three best-selling luxury automakers in the world.