How the four rings became the Audi trademark: Auto Union AG founded 90 years ago

On June 29, 1932, on the initiative of the State Bank of Saxony, the former Audiwerke AG, Horchwerke AG, and Zschopauer Motorenwerke J. S. Rasmussen AG (DKW) companies merge to form Auto Union AG. The new entity simultaneously concludes an agreement with Wanderer Werke AG on the purchase and lease of Wanderer’s automotive division. The new group is based in Chemnitz, with administration located at the DKW plant in Zschopau until 1936. Following its creation, Auto Union AG is the second-largest motor vehicle group in Germany. The company logo shows four interlocking rings, representing the inseparable unity of the four founding companies. The brand names Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer are retained. Each of the group’s four brands is assigned a specific market segment: While DKW is active in the motorcycle and small cars segment and Wanderer builds and sells mid-size cars, Audi markets cars in the deluxe mid-size segment and Horch stands for luxury cars at the top end of the market.

Today, Audi fans can still experience Audi’s history and the history of automobile manufacturing – at the August Horch Museum in Zwickau (https://www.horch-museum.de/en/), and also at the Audi museum mobile in Ingolstadt. Until September 24, visitors to the latter can see the special exhibition “The Fifth Ring”, which tells the story of NSU, the oldest predecessor brand of today’s AUDI AG. Those who want to visit the Audi museum mobile from the comfort of their own home or while traveling can do so at any time on the Audi Tradition app. It is available for download on all popular app stores for iOS and Android smartphones.