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Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in
Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...
,
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
. It is the immediate predecessor of
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm for its four constituent brands (Audi,
Horch Horch () was a car brand manufacturer, founded in Germany by August Horch & Cie at the beginning of the 20th century. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the merger of Auto Union Aktienges ...
,
DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...
,
Wanderer Wanderer, Wanderers, or The Wanderer may refer to: * Nomadism, Nomadic and/or itinerant people, working short-term before moving to other locations, who wander from place to place with no permanent home, or are vagrancy (people), vagrant * The Wan ...
), Auto Union is widely known for its racing team (''Auto Union Rennabteilung'', based at
Horch Horch () was a car brand manufacturer, founded in Germany by August Horch & Cie at the beginning of the 20th century. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the merger of Auto Union Aktienges ...
works in
Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
/
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
). The
Silver Arrows Silver Arrows (german: link=no, Silberpfeil) was the nickname given by the press to Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939. The name was later applied to the Mercedes-Benz Formula ...
of the two German teams (
Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
and Auto Union) dominated not only GP car racing from 1934 onwards but set records that would take decades to beat, such as the fastest speed ever attained on a public road (at 432.7 km/h (268.9 mph), a record lasting until 2017. After being reduced to near ruin in the aftermath of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Auto Union was re-founded in
Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...
, Bavaria, in 1949, ultimately evolving into the modern day Audi company following its takeover by
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
in 1964 and later merger with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969. The current corporate entity which bears the Auto Union name – ''Auto Union GmbH'' – was founded in 1985 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi AG; its purpose is to act as owner of Auto Union's historical trademarks and intellectual property, as well as managing Audi's heritage operations. The company's distinctive logo, of four interlocking rings to represent the original four members of the Auto Union, survives as the logo of Audi.


Formation

Auto Union was formed in Germany in 1932 merging: *Zschopauer Motorenwerke J. S. Rasmussen (brand
DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...
– steam-driven car) founded by Danish engineer
Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen (30 July 1878 – 12 August 1964) was a Danish engineer and industrialist. Life The son of a shipmaster who died when Rasmussen was still a young child, he attended middle school in Nakskov and in 1894 began an appre ...
in 1916, it branched out into motorcycles, and then front-drive two-stroke cars built at Audi works in
Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
since 1931. *
Horch Horch () was a car brand manufacturer, founded in Germany by August Horch & Cie at the beginning of the 20th century. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the merger of Auto Union Aktienges ...
– founded 1904 by
August Horch August Horch (12 October 1868 – 3 February 1951) was a German engineer and automobile pioneer, the founder of the manufacturing giant which would eventually become Audi. Beginnings Horch was born in Winningen, Rhenish Prussia. His init ...
in Zwickau. It built cars starting from straight-twin engines to luxury models with V8- and
V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The fi ...
s. *
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
– because of disputes with the CFO, August Horch in 1909 left his namesake enterprise and founded Audi across town, building inline-four-,
six 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...
- and
eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art *The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...
-cylinder-engined cars. In 1928 Audi became a subsidiary of Zschopauer Motorenwerke. *
Wanderer Wanderer, Wanderers, or The Wanderer may refer to: * Nomadism, Nomadic and/or itinerant people, working short-term before moving to other locations, who wander from place to place with no permanent home, or are vagrancy (people), vagrant * The Wan ...
(only car division) – founded in 1911, with small four-cylinder cars and later a more luxurious straight-6 built in Siegmar (now
Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...
) In August 1928, Rasmussen, the owner of DKW, acquired a majority ownership of Audiwerke AG.Audi website In the same year, Rasmussen bought the remains of the US
automobile manufacturer The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such ...
Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range ...
, including the manufacturing equipment for eight- and six-cylinder engines. These engines were used in ''Audi Zwickau'', ''Audi Imperator'' and ''Audi Dresden'' models. At the same time, six-cylinder and four-cylinder (licensed from
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
) models were manufactured. In 1930 the Saxony Regional Bank, which had financed Rasmussen's business expansion in the 1920s, installed
Richard Bruhn Richard Karl Wilhelm Bruhn (25 June 1886 Cismar, now administratively part of Grömitz – 8 July 1964 Düsseldorf) was a German automobile manufacturer and entrepreneur. Parentage Bruhn was the son of a shoe maker called Heinrich Christian Emi ...
on the board of Audiwerke AG, and there followed a brutal pruning and rationalization of the various auto-businesses that Rasmussen had accumulated. The outcome was the founding in Summer 1932 of Auto Union AG with just four component businesses, being Zschopauer Motorenwerke with its brand DKW, Audi, Horch and the car producing piece of Wanderer, brought together under the umbrella of single
shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
company Auto Union. Although all four brands continued to sell cars under their own names and brands, the technological development became more centralized, with some Audi models employing engines by Horch or Wanderer.


The Auto Union racing cars


Background

Auto Union chairman, Klaus, Baron von Oertzen, wanted a showpiece project to announce the new brand. At the 1933 Berlin Motor Show,
German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ger ...
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
announced two new programs: *The people's car: a project that became the ''KdF'' car *A state-sponsored motor racing programme: to develop a "high speed German automotive industry," the foundation of which would be an annual sum of At fellow director's Adolf Rosenberger insistence, von Oertzen met with Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who had done work for him before, and developed his own
P-Wagen project The Auto Union Grand Prix racing cars types A to D were developed and built by a specialist racing department of Auto Union's Horch works in Zwickau, Germany, between 1933 and 1939, after the company bought a design by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche in 1 ...
racing car based on the new formula. German racing driver Hans Stuck Sr. had met Hitler before he became Chancellor, and not being able to gain a seat at Mercedes, accepted the invitation of Rosenberger to join him, von Oertzen, and Porsche in approaching the Chancellor. In a meeting in the Reich Chancellory, Hitler agreed with Porsche that for the glory of Germany, it would be better for two companies to develop the project, resulting in Hitler agreeing to pay £40,000 for the country's best racing car of 1934, as well as an annual stipend of (£20,000) each for Mercedes and Auto Union. (In time, this would climb to £250,000.)Setright, p.1312. This highly annoyed Mercedes, who had already developed their Mercedes-Benz W25; nevertheless, Mercedes was gratified, its racing program having financial difficulties since 1931. It resulted in a heated exchange both on and off the racing track between the two companies until World War II. Having garnered state funds, Auto Union bought Porsche's ''Hochleistungsfahrzeugbau GmbH (HFB)'' (High Performance Car Ltd.) and hence the P-Wagen Project for , relocating the company to Auto Union's
Horch Horch () was a car brand manufacturer, founded in Germany by August Horch & Cie at the beginning of the 20th century. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the merger of Auto Union Aktienges ...
plant at
Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
.


Design

The Auto Union racing cars types A to D were built as ''Grand Prix''
racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
s from 1934 to 1939. They resembled the earlier Benz ''Tropfenwagen'', also built in part by Rumpler engineers, The only ''Grand Prix'' racers to wear Auto Union's four-ringed logo, they were particularly dominant in 1936. From 1935 to 1937, Auto Union cars car won 25 races, driven by
Ernst von Delius Ernst von Delius (29 March 1912 – 26 July 1937) was a racing driver from Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Ru ...
, Bernd Rosemeyer, Hans Stuck Sr., and
Achille Varzi Achille Varzi (8 August 1904 – 1 July 1948) was an Italian Grand Prix driver. Career Born in Galliate, province of Novara (Piedmont), Achille Varzi was the son of a textile manufacturer. As a young man, he was a successful motorcycle ra ...
. Much has been written about the difficult handling characteristics of this car, but its tremendous power and acceleration were undeniable – a driver could induce wheelspin at over . The cars used
supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...
s; eventually producing almost , designed to provide optimum
torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...
at low engine speeds. Rosemeyer would later drive one around the
Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
in a single gear, to prove the engine was flexible enough to do it. Unlike its rivals, it had a
rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout In automotive design, an RMR, or rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout is one in which the rear wheels are driven by an engine placed with its center of gravity in front of the rear axle, and thus right behind the passenger compartment. Nowa ...
. The fuel tank was located in the centre of the car, directly behind the driver (who would be placed well towards the front), so the car's front-rear weight distribution would remain unchanged as fuel was used – exactly the same location used in modern open-wheel racing cars, and for the same reason. The chassis tubes were initially used as water carriers from the radiator to the engine, but this was eventually abandoned after they often sprung small leaks.


Racing results

The list of drivers for the initial 1934 season was headed by Stuck; he won the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
,
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...
, and
Czechoslovakian , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
events, along with wins in a number of
hill climb Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...
s, becoming European Mountain Champion. In 1935, the engine had been enlarged to displacement, producing .
Achille Varzi Achille Varzi (8 August 1904 – 1 July 1948) was an Italian Grand Prix driver. Career Born in Galliate, province of Novara (Piedmont), Achille Varzi was the son of a textile manufacturer. As a young man, he was a successful motorcycle ra ...
joined the team and won the
Tunis Grand Prix The Tunis Grand Prix or ''Grand Prix de Tunis'' was a auto racing, motor race held in the 1920s and 30s in Tunis, the capital of the African colony of the French protectorate of Tunisia. A race was held originally as an open-wheel motor race on a ...
and the
Coppa Acerbo The Coppa Acerbo was an automobile race held in Italy, named after Tito Acerbo, the brother of Giacomo Acerbo, a prominent fascist politician. Following Italy's defeat in World War II, and the consequent demise of fascism, the race was renamed the ...
. Stuck won the Italian Grand Prix, plus his usual collection of hill-climb wins, again taking the European Mountain Championship. The new sensation, Rosemeyer, won the Czech Grand Prix. Stuck also managed to break speed records, reaching on an Italian ''autostrada'' in a closed-cockpit streamliner. Lessons learned from this streamlining were later applied to the T80
land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...
car. For 1936, the engine had grown to a full , and was now producing ; in the hands of Rosemeyer and his teammates, the Auto Union Type C dominated the racing world. Rosemeyer won the
Eifelrennen The Eifelrennen was an annual motor race, organised by ADAC Automobile Club from 1922 to 2003, held in Germany's Eifel mountain region even before the Nürburgring was built there. History Starting from 1922, the first races were held on a 33 ...
, German, Swiss, and Italian Grands Prix, as well as the ''Coppa Acerbo''. He was crowned European Champion (Auto Union's only win of the driver's championship), and also took the European Mountain Championship. Varzi won the Tripoli Grand Prix, while Stuck placed second in the Tripoli and German Grands Prix, and
Ernst von Delius Ernst von Delius (29 March 1912 – 26 July 1937) was a racing driver from Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Ru ...
took second in the ''Coppa Acerbo''. In 1937, the car was basically unchanged and did surprisingly well against the new Mercedes-Benz W125, winning five races to the seven of Mercedes-Benz. Rosemeyer took the Eifel and Donington Grands Prix, the Coppa Acerbo, and the
Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County, New York, Nassa ...
.
Rudolf Hasse Rudolf Hasse (30 May 1906 – 12 August 1942) was a German racing driver who won the 1937 Belgian Grand Prix. Hasse was born in Mittweida, Saxony, and died while serving on the Russian front during World War II in a military hospital in Makiivka, ...
won the
Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French language, French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German language, German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula O ...
. In addition to the new formula, 1938 brought other challenges, principally the death of Rosemeyer early in the year, in an attempt on the land speed record on a German ''autobahn''.
Tazio Nuvolari Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (; 16 November 1892 – 11 August 1953) was an Italian racing driver. He first raced motorcycles and then concentrated on sports cars and single-seaters. A resident of Mantua, he was known as 'Il Mantovano Volante' (Th ...
joined the team, and won the Italian and Donington Grands Prix, in what was otherwise a thin year for the team, other than yet another European Mountain Championship for Stuck. In 1939, as war clouds gathered over Europe, Nuvolari won the Yugoslavia Grand Prix in Belgrade, while Hermann P. Müller won the
1939 French Grand Prix The 1939 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Reims-Gueux on 9 July 1939. Classification References {{Grand Prix race report , Name_of_race = French Grand Prix , Year_of_race = 1939 , Previous_ ...
.


Second World War

The buildup and onset of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
encouraged the development and production of special vehicles for military purposes in the 1930s. Auto Union became an important supplier of vehicles to Germany's armed forces. Following the outbreak of war, civilian production was interrupted in May 1940. After this, the company produced exclusively for military purposes. For the production of
Junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...
aircraft engine under license, Auto Union founded in 1935 the subsidiary "Mitteldeutsche Motorenwerke" (Central German Motor Works) at Taucha, northeast of
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
. During World War II, Auto Union/Horch supplied the chassis for the
Sd.Kfz. 222 ''Sonderkraftfahrzeug'' (abbreviated ''Sd.Kfz.'', German for "special purpose vehicle") was the ordnance inventory designation used by Nazi Germany during World War II for military vehicles; for example ''Sd.Kfz.'' 101 for the Panzer I. Sd.Kfz. nu ...
armored car. Powered by an Horch
V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
, it reached a top speed of on the road. The
all-wheel drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one w ...
''Kfz. 11'', or Horch/Wanderer Type 901, was used as a medium transport vehicle to shuttle German military officials. Horch works also produced the AWD heavy transport vehicle Type 801 (both named
Einheits-PKW der Wehrmacht ''Einheits-Pkw der Wehrmacht'' – ''literally: "standard passenger motor-car of the Wehrmacht"'' – was the Nazi German plan for a new, multi-purpose fleet of four-wheel drive, off-road capable cars and light trucks, based on just three unifo ...
). From the beginning of 1944, Auto Union plants (Horch and Audi plant at Zwickau, Mitteldeutsche Motorenwerke and Siegmar/Wanderer plant at Siegmar-Schönau) were heavily bombed and severely damaged. The U.S. Army occupied Zwickau on 17 April 1945 near the end of WWII. After withdrawal of the U.S. Army on 30 June from Zwickau, all Saxon plants of Auto Union were occupied by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
. The company exploited slave labor at
Leitmeritz concentration camp Leitmeritz was the largest subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp, operated by Nazi Germany in Leitmeritz, Reichsgau Sudetenland (now Litoměřice, Czech Republic). Established on 24 March 1944 as part of an effort to disperse and inc ...
. According to a 2014 report commissioned by the company, Auto Union bore "moral responsibility" for the 4,500 deaths that occurred at Leitmeritz.


East Germany

Postwar, the Saxon plants of Auto Union were located in the Soviet-occupied zone of communist
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. In 1945, on the orders of the
Soviet Military Administration in Germany The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (russian: Советская военная администрация в Германии, СВАГ; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; german: Sowjetische Militäradministrat ...
, the factories were dismantled as war reparations,Audi website while the racing cars found stored in a colliery were returned to Moscow for reverse engineering. Following this, Auto Union AG assets were liquidated without compensation. On 17 August 1948, Auto Union AG of Chemnitz was deleted from the commercial register. The remains of Horch and Audi plants of Zwickau became the
VEB VEB may stand for: * Venturing and Emerging Brands, a division of Coca-Cola * Virtual business * Venezuelan , currency of Venezuela between 1879 and 2007, ISO 4217 code VEB * ' (German for "People-owned enterprise"), a state-owned workplace or est ...
(for "People Owned Enterprise") Automobilwerk Zwickau, or AWZ; (Automobile Factory Zwickau). The former Audi factory in Zwickau, now under East German control, restarted assembly of the pre-war models in 1949. Those models were renamed
IFA F8 The DKW F8 is a compact car, compact front-wheel drive two-stroke engined sedan (automobile), saloon, introduced in 1939.Odin, L.C. ''World in Motion 1939 - The whole of the year's automobile production''. Belvedere Publishing, 2015. ASIN: B00ZLN9 ...
and
IFA F9 The IFA F9, subsequently rebadged as the EMW 309, is a compact saloon manufactured under the auspices of the Russian and East German states between 1949 or 1950 and 1956. It was initially built at Zwickau at the plant previously owned by Auto U ...
and were similar to the new West German DKW versions. In time, a lawsuit compelled the East Germans to cease using the DKW brand. The factory went on to manufacture the Trabant until the early 1990s, when it was acquired by Volkswagen, effectively re-establishing its connection with Auto Union and Audi.


New Auto Union

With the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
quickly advancing on
Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
immediately after the war, and faced with the prospect of trying to salvage what was left of the company, Auto Union's executives had no option but to flee and re-establish the company on the Western side of a now partitioned Germany. Thus a new Auto Union company was launched in
Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...
, Bavaria with loans from the Bavarian state government and
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
aid. The reformed company Auto Union GmbH was launched on 3 September 1949. The Ingolstadt facility had been run purely as a spare parts operation since 1945, but eventually the directors found the funding to restart production – initially in a converted granary building in the town. With
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
still in the early stages of rebuilding its economy after the war, the demand for cheap transport meant that only the DKW brand would survive into the postwar era. The luxury focused Audi and Horch brands were placed into dormancy, whilst Wanderer had been the property of its original parent firm. Auto Union therefore continued DKW's tradition of producing affordable front-wheel drive vehicles with
two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...
s. This included production of the small but sturdy DKW RT 125 W motorcycle and a delivery van known as DKW Schnellaster. Many employees of the Saxony factories in Zwickau (
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
and
Horch Horch () was a car brand manufacturer, founded in Germany by August Horch & Cie at the beginning of the 20th century. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the merger of Auto Union Aktienges ...
factories),
Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...
(Siegmar plant, former
Wanderer Wanderer, Wanderers, or The Wanderer may refer to: * Nomadism, Nomadic and/or itinerant people, working short-term before moving to other locations, who wander from place to place with no permanent home, or are vagrancy (people), vagrant * The Wan ...
) and Zschopau ( DKW Motorcycle factory) came to Ingolstadt and restarted the production. In 1950, after a former
Rheinmetall-Borsig Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. History Rheinmetall was founded in 1889. Banker and investor Lorenz Zuckermandel L ...
factory in
Düsseldorf-Derendorf Derendorf is a quarter of Düsseldorf, Germany, part of the central Borough 1. It is located north of Pempelfort and Golzheim, west of Mörsenbroich and south of Unterrath. Derendorf has an area of , and 20,584 inhabitants (2020). Derendorf ...
was established as a second assembly facility, the company's first postwar car went into production: the DKW Meisterklasse F 89 P, available as a sedan/saloon, a
station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...
and the four-seater convertible built by Karmann. The F 89 were based on the
DKW F8 The DKW F8 is a compact front-wheel drive two-stroke engined saloon, introduced in 1939.Odin, L.C. ''World in Motion 1939 - The whole of the year's automobile production''. Belvedere Publishing, 2015. ASIN: B00ZLN91ZG. The F8 was slightly shorter ...
(motor) and the DKW F9 (coachwork) pre-war constructions. From 1956 to 1968, about 46,750
DKW Munga The DKW Munga is a DKW-branded off-road vehicle that was built by Auto-Union in Ingolstadt, Germany. The name ''Munga'' comes from the German phrase ''Mehrzweck Universal Geländewagen mit Allradantrieb'', which translates as "multi-purpose univer ...
light four-wheel drive military vehicles could be produced, mostly for the German and other militaries. In response to pressure from
Friedrich Flick Friedrich Flick (10 July 1883 – 20 July 1972) was a German industrialist and convicted Nazi war criminal. After the Second World War, he reconstituted his businesses, becoming the richest person in West Germany, and one of the richest people i ...
, then its largest single shareholder,
Daimler-Benz The Mercedes-Benz Group Aktiengesellschaft, AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It ...
acquired 87% of Auto Union in April 1958, taking complete control in the following year. In 1958 it saw the return of the Auto Union brand, represented by the
Auto Union 1000 The Auto Union 1000 is a luxury compact front-wheel drive automobile manufactured by Auto Union GmbH between 1958 and 1965. It was the first (and in many markets the last) model branded as an Auto Union by the manufacturer since the 1930's; it r ...
, a small saloon. At the same time the 1000 Sp, a coupé, was produced for Auto Union by the
coachbuilder A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...
Baur Baur can refer to: People * A. C. Baur (1900–1931), American football player and stock broker * Alfred Baur, Swiss collector of Asian art * Eleonore Baur, only woman to participate in Munich Beer Hall Putsch * Erwin Baur, German geneticist and b ...
at
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
. Under Daimler-Benz ownership the company invested heavily in the Ingolstadt plant. Car production at Düsseldorf was ended, and the plant became the centre of production for Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles like the
Mercedes-Benz L 319 The Mercedes-Benz L 319 is a light commercial vehicle built by Mercedes-Benz between 1955 and 1967. Larger than a standard delivery van, but smaller than a conventional light truck of the period, it was the manufacturer's first model in this class ...
– a role which it continues to the present day. The DKW and Mercedes brands were able to establish a greater presence in the North American market by an agreement with the
Studebaker-Packard Corporation The Studebaker-Packard Corporation was the entity created in 1954 by the purchase of the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. While Studebaker was the larger of the two companies, P ...
in 1956 which through 1964 was the only distributor in the United States. Because of SPC's large network of dealers, the Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz brands were able to expand much faster in the US markets. Many dealers today can trace their origin back to being Studebaker-Packard dealerships. However, as prosperity began to return to West Germany, and as West German products gained valuable currency through export to the rest of Europe and North America, Daimler became increasingly worried that Auto Union's only market for its two-stroke products, without massive investment, would be impoverished East Germany. Two-stroke engines became less popular towards the middle of the 1960s as customers were more attracted to the more refined
four-stroke engine A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
s. They began selling shares, which with the agreed help of the West German Government, were acquired by Volkswagenwerk AG. In 1964, Volkswagen acquired the factory in Ingolstadt and the trademark rights of Auto Union, with the exception of the dormant Horch brand which Daimler-Benz retained. A programme that Daimler had initiated at Auto Union created a range of cars that would subsequently provide the basis for
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
's line of front-wheel-drive models, such as the Audi 80 and Volkswagen Passat. At the time a new model, internally designated F103, was under development. This was based on the last DKW model, the
DKW F102 The DKW F102 is a passenger car that was produced from August 1963 by the German manufacturer Auto Union. Superseding the Auto Union 1000, it was the last model branded as a DKW by the manufacturer and also the last West German production car equ ...
, with a four-stroke engine implanted and some front and rear styling changes. Volkswagen abandoned the DKW brand because of association with two-stroke engines, effectively leaving Volkswagen with the Audi brand. The new model was launched in September 1965 as simply the "Audi." The name was a model designation rather than the manufacturer, which was still officially Auto Union. As more models were later added to the Audi range, this model was renamed Audi 72. In 1969, Auto Union merged with NSU Motorenwerke AG, based in Neckarsulm, near
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
. In the 1950s, NSU had been the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles, but had moved on to produce small cars like the NSU Prinz, the TT and TTS versions of which are still popular as vintage race cars. NSU then focused on new rotary engines based on the ideas of Felix Wankel. In 1967, the new
NSU Ro 80 The NSU Ro 80 is a four-door, front-engine executive sedan manufactured and marketed by the West German firm NSU from 1967 until 1977. Noted for innovative, aerodynamic styling by Claus Luthe and a technologically advanced powertrain, the Ro 8 ...
was a space-age car, well ahead of its time in technical details such as aerodynamics, light weight, and safety but teething problems with the rotary engines put an end to the independence of NSU. The mid-sized car NSU had been working on, the K70, was intended to slot between the rear-engined Prinz models and the futuristic
NSU Ro 80 The NSU Ro 80 is a four-door, front-engine executive sedan manufactured and marketed by the West German firm NSU from 1967 until 1977. Noted for innovative, aerodynamic styling by Claus Luthe and a technologically advanced powertrain, the Ro 8 ...
. However, Volkswagen took the K70 for its own range, spelling the end of NSU as a separate brand. After being merged with Neckarsulm car maker NSU, the official name became Audi NSU Auto Union AG, which was simply shortened to Audi AG in 1985, ending both the Auto Union and NSU brands. The company's headquarters returned to Ingolstadt; at the same time Audi formed the new companies Auto Union GmbH, and NSU GmbH as wholly owned subsidiaries whose function was to own and protect the historical trademarks and intellectual property of both Auto Union and NSU. In May 2009, Porsche gained majority control of Volkswagen Group and proposed a merger of the two companies. In August 2009, Volkswagen AG's supervisory board signed the agreement to create an integrated Auto group with Porsche led by Volkswagen. Volkswagen will initially take a 42% stake in Porsche AG by the end of 2009, and see the family shareholders selling the automotive trading business of Porsche Holding Salsburg to Volkswagen. Rumors began to appear in the press the name Auto Union would be revived for the new group holding company.


Logo

The trademark symbol of Auto Union (and present-day
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
), the four overlapping rings, symbolized the four marques forming Auto Union:
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
,
DKW DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...
,
Horch Horch () was a car brand manufacturer, founded in Germany by August Horch & Cie at the beginning of the 20th century. It is one of the predecessors of the present day Audi company, which itself resulted from the merger of Auto Union Aktienges ...
, and
Wanderer Wanderer, Wanderers, or The Wanderer may refer to: * Nomadism, Nomadic and/or itinerant people, working short-term before moving to other locations, who wander from place to place with no permanent home, or are vagrancy (people), vagrant * The Wan ...
. Although Auto Union used the four ring logo, it was only used on
Auto Union racing car The Auto Union Grand Prix racing cars types A to D were developed and built by a specialist racing department of Auto Union's Horch works in Zwickau, Germany, between 1933 and 1939, after the company bought a design by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche in 1 ...
s in that period, while the member companies used their own names and emblems. There is also a version of logo that uses both overlapping and interlocking rings.


Tribute

Auto Union was tributed at the 1999
Monterey Historic Automobile Races The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is an annual event held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Its purpose is to provide an event in which historic racecars can compete. It takes place over the course of one weekend ...
.Monterey Historics 1999
Audiworld.com (1 September 1999). Retrieved on 2013-07-16.


See also

*
List of German cars Current major manufacturers Current minor manufacturers * 9FF (2001–present) * Aaglander (2003–present) * AC Schnitzer (1987–present) * Alpina (1965–present) * Apollo Automobil (2016-present) * Arden * Artega (2016-present) * ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

*Bruintjes, Jeroen. "Auto Union Type E—The Stillborn 1.5-litre car: Why it (Almost) did Exist" * * *Snellman, Leif. "The Early Auto Unions, From P-Wagen to A-type" * *Wise, David Burgess. "Rumpler: One Aeroplane which Never Flew", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 17, p. 1964. *


External links


August-Horch-MuseumAUTO UNION Sales Brochures 1939AutoUnion: the cars, the drivers and the historyAuto Union Historic site
* {{Authority control Audi Volkswagen Group Saxony Grand Prix teams German racecar constructors Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1932 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1964 Auto racing teams established in 1933 Auto racing teams disestablished in 1939 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Germany 1964 disestablishments in West Germany 1964 mergers and acquisitions German auto racing teams Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers German companies established in 1932 German companies established in 1949