Auto Union era and logo

Auto Union era

Main article: Auto Union

Cover of the 1937 English motor sport magazine with an Auto Union racing car on a banked track

In August 1928 Jørgen Rasmussen, the owner of DKW, acquired the majority of shares in Audiwerke AG.^[6] In the same year, Rasmussen bought the remains of the US automobile manufacturer Rickenbacker, including the manufacturing equipment for eight cylinder engines. These engines were used in Audi Zwickau and Audi Dresden models that were launched in 1929. At the same time, six cylinder and four cylinder (licensed from Peugeot) models were manufactured. Audi cars of that era were luxurious cars equipped with special bodywork.

In 1932, Audi merged with Horch, DKW and Wanderer, to form Auto Union.

Before World War II, Auto Union used the four interlinked rings that make up the Audi badge today, representing these four brands. This badge was used, however, only on Auto Union racing cars in that period while the member companies used their own names and emblems. The technological development became more and more concentrated and some Audi models were propelled by Horch or Wanderer built engines.

Logo

The Audi emblem is four overlapping rings that represent the four marques of Auto Union. The Audi emblem symbolizes the amalgamation of Audi with DKW, Horch and Wanderer: the first ring represents Audi, the second represents DKW, third is Horch, and the fourth and last ring Wanderer.^{[7] [8]} Its similarity to the Olympic rings caused the International Olympic Committee to sue Audi in International Trademark Court in 1995.