History

40 years of pioneering spirit

As the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “The only constant in life is change,” and that is also true for Audi Sport GmbH. There has always been, and always will be, transformation: quattro GmbH was founded in 1983 to secure the quattro name and marketing rights. What began in the mid-1980s with high-quality accessories and sports gear went on to become a success story. At the 1995 International Motor Show, quattro GmbH presented the first customized Audi models, including the Audi A8 and the Audi Cabriolet. The following year, quattro GmbH was officially registered as a car manufacturer – the first in-house model was the Audi S6 plus. Today, the initial handful of people has grown into a team of around 1,500 dedicated employees. In 2020, series production, vehicle customization, Audi exclusive, and all Audi motorsport activities were brought together under Audi Sport GmbH.

In this challenging market, Audi Sport GmbH once again achieved excellent sales figures in 2023 and is the first manufacturer to win an overall victory in one of the toughest rallies in the world, the legendary Dakar Rally.

All this was made possible by the Audi Sport GmbH team repeatedly daring to do new things while at the same time remaining true to their intrinsic character. Going forward, the sporty Audi subsidiary is pursuing a clear and systematic electrification strategy. Their vision: To set standards in the high-performance customer experience and electrification sector – and thus ensure the future of the brand with the four rings’ sporty DNA.