Audi is a German luxury car which has been popular for many years. The corporation is located in Bavaria, Germany and today is almost completely owned by Volks Wagen. This German car amply fulfils the company logo of Advancement Through Technology. Audi's roots can be traced back to August Horch who produced the first car in 1901. Horst went through some turbulent partnership problems and eventually went solo. He named the car company Audi meaning "audible" in Latin.
Over the years, Audi developed many four and six cylinder cars. At this pont, has also developed a four circle overlapping logo which represented the amalgamation of Audi with DKW, Horch and Wanderer.
Many cars were used to race on the European circuit. Just before the start of the 2nd World War, the company produced the SD KFz222 armored car which was widely used in the war. The war also led to development of many other cars but after the war many car factories remained under Russian control. In the 60s, Daimler Benz took over the owner ship of Auto Union and later on Volkswagen also invested in the company.
The modern era of Audi did not start till the 70s. The first few cars of the NSU were the 100 series. The company image was conservative during the early 70s but by the time the Quattro was released, Audi had a new classy image. The first generation of S4 and S6 sports sedans were widely popular. In the 90s, Audi faced a slump in sales because of a number of reports of accidental acceleration while braking. Audi turned things around in 1996 with the A4 series. In the early part of 2000, sales in the USA continued to improve. World wide Audi had solid sales in 2007 and started to offer the Multi Media Interface in the cars.
Over the years the company has established itself as winner on the racing circuit both in Europe and America. The latest car even have a white LED daytime running light technology as their trademark. Audi has already planned a hybrid electric car with the Japanese Giant, Sanyo.
However, the current global downturn in economy has Audi struggling with sales and all new innovations planned for 2009 and 2010 are on hold.
