Auto Union - Formation

Formation

Auto Union was formed in Germany in 1932, merging:

  • Audi - having fallen out with family member, August Horch founded Audi in Zwickau 1909, which built inline-four-, six- and eight-cylinder-engined cars.
  • DKW - steam equipment company founded by Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen in 1916, it branched out into motorcycles, and then front-drive two-stroke cars built at Audi works in Zwickau since 1931.
  • Horch - founded by August Horch in Zwickau 1904, it built cars starting from straight-two engines to luxury models with V8- and V12 engines.
  • Wanderer - founded in 1911, with small four-cylinder cars and later a more luxurious V6 built in Siegmar (now Chemnitz)

In August 1928, Rasmussen, the owner of DKW, acquired a majority ownership of Audiwerke AG. 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, Audi Imperator and Audi Dresden models that were launched in 1929. At the same time, six-cylinder and four-cylinder (licensed from Peugeot) models were manufactured.

In 1932, with all companies still losing money, Audi/DKW, Horch and Wanderer were brought together under the umbrella of communal shareholder company Auto Union. Although all four brands continued to build cars under their own names and brands, the technological development became more centralized, with some Audi models employing engines by Horch or Wanderer.

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