Wishing a very Happy Centenary to Audi!!! The Luxury car manufacturer Audi has completed 100 years in the competitive automotive world. It is among the few car manufacturers to have attained the 100 mark. The others who are in this elite club are General Motors and Ford. Audi in India is a strong player in the luxury car market of India. The cars are well known worldwide for their captivating looks and exemplary performance.
Audi’s glorious history was started in 1909 by an enterprising German engineer August Horch. The company traces its origins even further back to 1899, when after having worked for few years with Carl Benz, Horch set up his own company. However, he was thrown out of his own company in 1901 by his partners. This was also the years that Horch launched his first cars.
In 1902 he formed his own company but then his partners threw a legal spanner in his plans. Horch could not use his name for his new company, as it was used by his previous company. When Horch lost a legal battle to them, he learnt that the Latin translation of the name Horch (meaning listen) was Audi. Hence on July 16, 1909 he established a new company called Audi.
Audi cars began it success run with the Type A model powered by a 22 bhp, 2.6L engine. Horch raced this car and gained immense success. In 1913 he created the first Audi saloon the Type C Alpine Victor. It helped Audi gain notable success in motorsports. In 1920 Audi cars were the first to use left hand drive style. Audi made limousines and saloon with high quality engineering. Audi established its dominance in the European Automobile industry during the 1920’s.
In 1932, four car brands amalgamated –Audi, DKW, Horch, Wanderer and came to be called the Auto Union. The four rings in Audi Emblem represent these four companies. The company had to stop the production of passenger cars during the WWII, and resumed its business in late 1940’s. After a brief ownership by Daimler-Benz, it was sold to Volkswagen which currently owns the company.
But it was Ferdinand Piech who joined them in 1974 who gave Audi its technological edge. It was because of Piech, Audi coined the corporate tagline ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ meaning Advantage through technology.
Audi brought in the technological changes in Automobiles. The Audi Type M, built in 1923, was the most expensive and luxurious car of its time. It featured four wheel brakes for the first time in an automobile. The next model Type R ‘imperator’ was the first to break the 100 horses barrier.
The DKW built in 1931 for the first time featured the front wheel drive for mass produced cars. In 1963 Audi displayed the Wankel Spider engine, the first in the series production car to be driven by rotary piston engine.
Audi was also the first to bring in aerodynamic changes to a car design. This helped Audi win several motorsports. Audi also pioneered the use of aluminum for car body and dropped the use of wooden car panels. Audi’s DKW was among the first to use two stroke engines for cars. In 1970’s Audi introduced Quattro engine technology with four wheel drive for the first time. This drive concept previously had only been used on trucks and off-road vehicles.
The Audi Quattro technology met with worldwide success in motorsports and was eventually adopted on the entire Audi range of vehicles. It has been continuously innovating since then to improve passenger car performance, comfort, and quality.
A lot of our present day car design owes its origins to Audi. Let us salute the magnificent spirit of Audi on this day- July 16, 2009.
Audi’s glorious history was started in 1909 by an enterprising German engineer August Horch. The company traces its origins even further back to 1899, when after having worked for few years with Carl Benz, Horch set up his own company. However, he was thrown out of his own company in 1901 by his partners. This was also the years that Horch launched his first cars.
In 1902 he formed his own company but then his partners threw a legal spanner in his plans. Horch could not use his name for his new company, as it was used by his previous company. When Horch lost a legal battle to them, he learnt that the Latin translation of the name Horch (meaning listen) was Audi. Hence on July 16, 1909 he established a new company called Audi.
Audi cars began it success run with the Type A model powered by a 22 bhp, 2.6L engine. Horch raced this car and gained immense success. In 1913 he created the first Audi saloon the Type C Alpine Victor. It helped Audi gain notable success in motorsports. In 1920 Audi cars were the first to use left hand drive style. Audi made limousines and saloon with high quality engineering. Audi established its dominance in the European Automobile industry during the 1920’s.
In 1932, four car brands amalgamated –Audi, DKW, Horch, Wanderer and came to be called the Auto Union. The four rings in Audi Emblem represent these four companies. The company had to stop the production of passenger cars during the WWII, and resumed its business in late 1940’s. After a brief ownership by Daimler-Benz, it was sold to Volkswagen which currently owns the company.
But it was Ferdinand Piech who joined them in 1974 who gave Audi its technological edge. It was because of Piech, Audi coined the corporate tagline ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ meaning Advantage through technology.
Audi brought in the technological changes in Automobiles. The Audi Type M, built in 1923, was the most expensive and luxurious car of its time. It featured four wheel brakes for the first time in an automobile. The next model Type R ‘imperator’ was the first to break the 100 horses barrier.
The DKW built in 1931 for the first time featured the front wheel drive for mass produced cars. In 1963 Audi displayed the Wankel Spider engine, the first in the series production car to be driven by rotary piston engine.
Audi was also the first to bring in aerodynamic changes to a car design. This helped Audi win several motorsports. Audi also pioneered the use of aluminum for car body and dropped the use of wooden car panels. Audi’s DKW was among the first to use two stroke engines for cars. In 1970’s Audi introduced Quattro engine technology with four wheel drive for the first time. This drive concept previously had only been used on trucks and off-road vehicles.
The Audi Quattro technology met with worldwide success in motorsports and was eventually adopted on the entire Audi range of vehicles. It has been continuously innovating since then to improve passenger car performance, comfort, and quality.
A lot of our present day car design owes its origins to Audi. Let us salute the magnificent spirit of Audi on this day- July 16, 2009.
Our own 
This year the budget has not smiled all that much on the Indian car industry as excise duty reduction has been provided only on high-end cars and SUVs. In order to pass on the benefits of this to the customers, every car manufacturer is disclosing the amount of discounts.
