The previous sentence was a joke, but Lu Xun didn't say it; But the first half of Audi's glorious history is true. Audi has experienced two wars since its birth. Automobile enterprise alliance: extinction and re-alliance: acquisition and resale; After gradually becoming a foundry, it developed secretly and finally established its position as a group. Since then, it has become the Audi we are familiar with today. Every step is extraordinary and legendary.
To understand Audi's past lives, we must go back to the founder Augustine Horc? Horc). 1899, Horsey created the same name as himself. With many years of working experience and innovative ideas in Mercedes-Benz factory, Horsey quickly stood out among many car companies. Dramatic things happened. Hoshi, who ignored the cost of technology, was resisted by the board of directors. He left his job angrily and founded a new car company under the name of Hoch's Latin Audi, and the familiar Audi was officially born. The year is 1909.
In the second year after the establishment of Audi, the company launched the first car-Audi Model A, and indirectly won the most difficult international Austrian Alpine Rally at1912-1914, which can be said to have earned enough limelight. Unfortunately, the bigger the limelight, the greater the risk. After the outbreak of World War I, Audi was forced to assist the military in producing motorcycles. After the war, the western economy declined as a whole, and German car companies struggled and fell into business crisis one after another. At this time, Audi is also in danger. ...
Named automobile alliance, the four-ring logo first appeared.
Things took a turn for the better at 1932. At that time, under the leadership of Saxony Bank, Audi, Hodge, DKW and Rover formed an alliance named Auto Alliance (AUTO? Trade union)
Just as the Olympic rings represent five continents, the Audi four-ring logo we are familiar with today also represents four car companies in the automobile alliance. Interestingly, at this time, the automobile alliance did not join hands with * * * like Logo. More resources were shared by * * *, but each brand operated independently.
In the alliance, Hoshi continues to deepen the luxury field, and has successively launched classic models such as Hoshi 853, and its sales volume is as high as 50% in the same class; Audi, on the other hand, maintains an advantage in performance, and has launched a number of high-power sports cars, which have always maintained a fairly high share in the segmentation field; The positioning of Land Rover is a bit vague, and the launched models are all built with the highest technical level in the same period, but the sales volume is not very good due to the high price; As for DKW, it will continue to take motorcycles as its main business and continue to lead the German motorcycle industry with high quality and low price.
The first seven years of the establishment of the automobile alliance can be said to be flourishing. Four automobile companies nibbled at market share in various sub-regions and became the market hegemon at that time.
Unfortunately, when World War II broke out, the automobile alliance once again (why again? Because Audi experienced the same thing in World War I) was officially requisitioned to produce military vehicles. Later, Germany was defeated in World War II, and the automobile alliance factory was occupied and dissolved by the Soviet Union. 1948, the automobile alliance officially disappeared and was deleted from the company register.
Escaped to west Germany overnight, and the automobile alliance opened the 2.0 era.
Before the Berlin Wall was erected, the executives and engineers of the automobile alliance collectively fled to West Germany, and 1949 established a new automobile alliance in Ingolstadt. Whether it is obsession or business, at this time, the new automobile alliance was officially born, or the original team, or the original four-ring logo, but it can't go back.
After the new automobile alliance returns to the market, it is an embarrassing field without money and technology, and the market demand for high-end models is low. At this time, only DKW can stand up and play. With low-priced motorcycles and vans, the vitality of the new automobile alliance is slowly recovering. It may not be difficult to give him more time to return to the glory of that year.
Being a victim of numbers, the automobile alliance was acquired by Daimler-Benz.
1957, that is, when the automobile alliance intends to collect money, its major shareholder Flick came out to spoil the game. At this time, fleek owns 40% of the shares of Auto Union and 25% of Daimler. There is no doubt that Daimler is a car company with higher gold content and greater potential. As long as Daimler merges with the automobile alliance, its shares will have a wonderful reaction and huge wealth will be at your fingertips.
In this way, fleek wants to get a lot of wealth, Daimler wants to become the largest German automobile group, and the two companies hit it off. Daimler bought the automobile alliance with a wave of his hand.
After the automobile alliance was merged by Daimler, it did not live in the days of imagining that the father of the gold owner was a factory worker and waved his hand. Instead, I fell into a field with no money, no land and no technology. At that time, the automobile alliance with incomparable scenery became a dirty subsidiary of Daimler in the 1950 s, and it was treated similarly to Cinderella as we know it.
It was resold again, and the good days did not come as scheduled.
1964, when the contradiction between the subsidiary and the parent company became increasingly fierce, the automobile alliance was resold by Daimler again, and the company that took over was audi ag. By 1966, Volkswagen Group owns all the shares of the new automobile alliance.
Just like the familiar human trafficking, the automobile alliance did not get preferential treatment because it changed its "owner". Volkswagen Group does not intend to develop automobile alliance. Auto Alliance not only lived a life without money, land and technology, but also stopped production of all its models and transformed all production lines into Beetle production lines.
During the period from 1965 to 1969, the automobile alliance became Volkswagen's full-time OEM, during which as many as 340,000 Beetle models were produced. It can be said that nothing was done except OEM. At this point, I believe everyone understands that the automobile alliance still has the face of an independent automobile company in the past. Volkswagen Group says it supports your independent innovation, but how much can it cost? What about the production line? Really completely blind.
Of course, the engineers of the automobile alliance are also hot-blooded men. Both world wars have survived, and of course things like snow storage can also survive.
1965 automobile alliance takes DKW? Based on F 102, it is equipped with a Mercedes-Benz four-cylinder engine and officially put into the market in the name of Audi. Once it came out, this new car was well received by the market, and the brand Audi successfully gained a foothold in the market. At this point, the four-ring logo in the automobile alliance has become the logo of Audi. It can be said that such a model based on DKW and equipped with Mercedes-Benz engine has become an opportunity for the integration of Sihuan and Audi, which sounds really funny.
Not only that, the automobile alliance also secretly (yes, behind Volkswagen's back) developed Audi 100. After the launch of Audi 100, with excellent performance and excellent body materials, it has successfully become the highest-selling model in its class, and Audi's position has been consolidated again. It stands to reason that the automobile alliance will eventually turn over and take charge!
Unfortunately, the economic depression has made the automobile alliance one step ahead of its success, and the automobile alliance that has just improved has once again fallen to the bottom. For the sake of commercial operation, Volkswagen Group merged its subsidiary NSU Automobile and Automobile Alliance in 1969 and named it Audi -NSU Automobile Co., Ltd.
Audi entered the Piech era and officially won its own market position.
Time came 1975, and Piech was the engineering technical manager of Audi. Through this magical man, Audi officially embarked on the road of brand rejuvenation.
1977, the last vehicle with the NSU logo drove off the production line, which also marked that the brand officially became a single brand, and all its models were Audi brands.
After Piech took charge of Audi, he proposed to replace all its models with galvanized steel plates, so that the new car would not rust in just a few years, which would affect the preservation rate and look very low-grade. After this proposal was put forward, it was severely opposed by the parent company Volkswagen Group. There is a simple reason. Audi, a subsidiary, uses high-end materials. How can the public highlight their sense of high class?
The tough Piech completely ignored the ban and reached a cooperation agreement with Alcoa, the largest aluminum company at that time, to apply double-sided galvanized steel body to all new cars owned by Audi. The market response is self-evident, and Audi successfully ranks among the high-end models. Even if the public face of the parent company is as black as Bao Gong, they have to acquiesce in the face of excellent performance.
Similar to this "Great Rebellion", there is the famous Quattro four-wheel drive system. In a Finnish forest car test in 1977, the director of Audi's preparation test department found that his 200 Audi 100 could not catch up with Volkswagen lltis, an off-road vehicle with high horsepower and small (75). After reporting to Piech, Pihe understood that Audi must have its own things if it wants to grow and develop, so the four-wheel drive system became an opportunity.
Then, Piech ordered the secret development of the Quattro four-wheel drive system code-named EA262, and the Volkswagen Group knew nothing about it.
1982 Audi Quattro equipped with Quattro system? A 1 won the championship of the year with great advantages; Later, he became a very competitive winning general in WRC, and Audi was also famous for Quattro. At this time, Audi can be said to be a soft hand and a soft hand.
In the early 1980s, Pierre set off the most sensational "Zero Gap War" at that time. In Pierre's view, it is unacceptable that the seams of the car body are large or even uneven, especially for Audi, a car company aiming at Mercedes-Benz. Under the high standard of "zero gap", Audi has also successfully established its own characteristics and become a more "advanced" model than Volkswagen.
The brand continued to rise, and the familiar Audi officially set off.
After many brand reforms, Audi finally established its own brand image and status, and got rid of the "Skoda"-like homogenization fate. The market's impression of Audi is no longer an advanced version of Volkswagen, but an Audi full of science and technology.
1993, Audi brought the world's first all-aluminum body frame model to Tokyo Auto Show, and it was officially mass-produced one year later, named Audi A8. This not only opened the chronology of Audi's top luxury cars, but also opened the familiar "A" chapter.
The soul of movement cannot be lost, and performance models are released one after another.
Looking back at the history of Audi, since the first car named Audi was released, it has been running on the field and won back the trophy; It can be said that the word performance has long been branded in the soul of Audi.
Time came 1995, and Quattro, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Audi, launched the first production model-Audi RS2? Avant-garde. On seniority, RS2? Avant, today is RS4? Avant, because Audi is through Audi 80? Avant (later named A4? Avant) has been modified; Through joint development with brother car company Porsche, RS2? Avant has 3 15 horsepower and 4 10Nm maximum torque. With the help of Quattro system, RS2? Avant became a hot star model at that time.
Strike while the iron is hot. In the same year, Audi, which was already very strong in Mazhuang, launched the first sports car-Audi TT? Concept, a fantastic figure, soon became the focus of Frankfurt Motor Show. 1998, Audi TT was officially mass-produced, and the performance era belonging to Audi officially began.
Time came 1999, and Audi officially participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of the most difficult events in the world. The following year, as a new manufacturer, Audi won the top three places with the Audi R8 car and became a well-deserved champion team. Then in 200 1 and 2002, he staged a hat trick and won the championship one after another; In 2003, Audi missed the game and was EXP by Bentley. Speed? 8 the car won the championship successfully (but it was still equipped with Audi's engine); In 2004-2005, continue to sit firmly on the champion throne, with five wins in six years!
In 2006, Audi innovatively introduced diesel engines into Le Mans. This is the first time that Le Mans heard the sound of a diesel engine, and it was also a year that surprised everyone. Audi relies on the epoch-making R 10? TDI diesel-powered racing car has good power performance and excellent fuel economy. Audi R 10 has far fewer pit stops than its rivals, and winning the championship trophy is as easy as taking something out of your pocket.
From its first participation in Le Mans in 1999 to its closing in 20 16, Audi * * * participated in 17 competitions and won the title of champion in 13 competitions; Let Audi become a well-deserved "King of Le Mans".
Break through science and technology and enlighten the future.
Audi's slogan has always been "breakthrough technology?" "Enlightening the future" is also the brand purpose of trying to break through oneself, so that more and more people choose Audi. "In the past 20 19 years, Audi's global sales reached1840,000 vehicles. It's hard to imagine that 50 years ago, Audi was just a "dirty car company" attached to Volkswagen's secret research and development of Quattro system.
From 1909 to 2020, Audi has passed11year. I have never been lucky throughout Audi for so many years. On the contrary, during the period of11year, Audi never stopped fighting against its fate. Whether it is two world wars or two "Golden Dad" Xuebao, Audi has chosen to bear the burden of humiliation and work hard where others can't see it. It is this spirit of not giving in to fate that enables Audi to become a member of the world's first-line luxury brands, and can confidently shout "breaking through technology and enlightening the future".
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.