Where is the audi a4 made? Where is the Audi A4 assembled for the Russian market. Guided tours of the plant in Ingolstadt

Audi AG is a German automotive company within the Volkswagen Group, specializing in the production of cars under the Audi brand. The headquarters is located in Ingolstadt (Germany).

The history of Audi AG is closely connected with the name of August Horch.

August Horch was born on October 12, 1868 in the village of Winningen, located in the Moselle Valley, into a blacksmith's family. At first he was trained in his father's profession. However, he did not show the abilities necessary for blacksmithing. And then, after several years of wandering, he began his studies at the then-famous technical school in the city of Mitweida. After graduating from a technical school, he qualified as an engineer and worked in various design offices in the cities of Rostock and Leipzig. Of particular interest to him was the use of the engine internal combustion, which at that time was still only a formless mechanism.

In 1896, Horch was invited to head the production of motorcycles at Benz & Cie in Mannheim. However, Karl Benz, being a conservative innovator, did not support most of the ideas and proposals for changes in his designs. Dissatisfied with this situation, August Horch decides to organize his own business.

Together with one of the shareholders, he created Horch & Cie in 1899 in Cologne. Along with the provision of services for the repair and equipping of vehicles, since 1901 the company began to establish its own production of cars. However, when the available capital began to dwindle, Horch, with drawings in his suitcase and ideas in his head, set off on a journey through Germany in search of money for his projects.

In Saxony, Horch found an industrialist who was interested in his ideas and was ready to finance them. Then in 1902, Horch moved with all his machines and equipment to Reichenbach, and then in 1904 to Zwickau. In 1909, disagreements arose between the shareholders, and August Horch left the company. But still, his thirst for activity was not broken. With the help of his friend Franz Fikentscher, a respected businessman from Zwickau, he soon founded a new automobile company. The second firm was also named after Horch. But this led to a lawsuit over the rights to the name of the firm. August Horch lost this process. For a young company, a new name had to be found. How to name the company?

Horst Fikentscher (grandson of Horst Fikentscher Franz) says that in his grandfather's living room there were endless debates on this issue: “All possible and impossible proposals arose. In the adjoining room, my grandfather's three high school sons also took part in the search for a name for the firm. My father Heinrich, who was then 10 years old, stunned all adults with a simple solution to a difficult problem: Horen, Horchen (listen, listen) are translated from German into Latin as "audire", and the imperative form "horch!" (listen!) - “audi!” From that day on, everyone called my father only Audi.

It took only a few years for the new Horch cars to gain recognition. For three consecutive years since 1913, the Audi team had won the international route through the Austrian Alps, which was considered at that time the most difficult test test for cars. With the founding of the second company, the innovative phase of Horch's life ended. During the First World War, he took over the organizational functions, and after the war he was invited as an expert on technical issues by many representatives of the German automotive industry.

History of the Four Rings
The Audi symbol - "Four Rings" - is a trademark of one of the oldest car manufacturers in Germany. It symbolizes the union of four previously independent car manufacturers: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. They are the roots of the modern AUDI AG.

1910-1920
At the beginning of 1909, after a legal dispute with the first Horch-Werke factories, August Horch renamed his second car factory at the Audi Automobil-Werke. When choosing a new name, Horch, who did not want to completely “concede” his own surname to his rivals, decided to use a pun. The word horch in German means "listen", just like audi in Latin.

In the middle of 1910, the plant launched the first Audi car on the market. This car had a 2.6 liter four-cylinder engine with 22 hp.

1920-1930
In 1920, Audi Automobil-Werke AG introduced a new trademark - Audi. In keeping with the fashionable business style of the time, Lucian Bernhard's flourish replaced the vignetted Audi emblem. Now a new emblem (gold letters on a blue background in an oval) adorned the radiators of Audi cars. When in 1965 the Volkswagen concern acquired 100% of the shares of the Auto Union concern (before that part of them belonged to the Daimler-Benz concern), which also included Audi, the first post-war car bearing the Audi brand was produced. It entered the market with the Auto Union emblem, representing the plexus of four rings, which was caused by the fact that Audi cars from 1949 to 1965 were produced under the Auto Union brand. Also on the right front fender and on the rear of the body there were emblems reminiscent of the first Audi emblem (the font was changed compared to the original version). This emblem was changed with the launch of the NSU production line in 1977. She received a red - brown oval, instead of blue. Since 1982, the branded oval has also adorned the side surfaces of the fenders of cars.

At the end of World War II, all the Saxon factories of Auto Union were destroyed as a result of Allied air strikes, and many employees and management of the concern left the Soviet zone of occupation. All equipment that survived was dismantled and removed. The management of the company, shortly before the end of the war, managed to move to Bavaria. At the end of 1945, an Auto Union spare parts warehouse even appeared in the city of Ingolstadt. But it was still far from full-fledged production. Only on September 3, 1949, the production of motorcycles and delivery trucks resumed. The company was registered in a new way and the company Auto Union GmbH appeared.

1950-1960
The first DKW passenger car after the war. After the founding of Auto Union GmbH in Ingolstadt in September 1949 and the start of production of motorcycles and small batch vehicles in August 1950, the production of the DKW, Auto Union's first post-war passenger car, began in August 1950. Until the end of 1961, DKW passenger cars were produced on production areas Rheinmetall-Boersing AG in Düsseldorf.

In April 1958, the stock company Daimler-Benz AG bought 88% of the shares of Auto Union, and a year later bought the company completely. The Ingolstadt firm became its branch. But the popularity of the Volkswagen Käfer model had a negative impact on sales of other small cars and the financial position of the Auto Union concern, and in 1964 the company became part of Volkswagen. In 1965, it was decided to release all new models of the concern that had lost its independence under the Audi brand. The first time after the takeover of Volkswagen did not want Audi to develop own cars. They were going to produce the Volkswagen Beetle model at the plant's facilities. But Ludwig Kraus, who was then the head of the design department, decided to develop the model secretly from everyone. In the end, they found out about this in Wolfsburg, but they did not interfere. The fruit of this activity was the Audi 100 middle class car, which appeared in 1968.

In 1969, Volkswagenwerk AG merged Auto Union GmbH and NSU Motorenwerke AG from Neckarsulm. The company was named Audi NSU Auto Union AG with headquarters in Neckarsulm. In 1974 a significant event took place. Ferdinand Piëch became the head of the design department.

1970-1980
At the beginning of 1970, a wide export of Audi to the United States of America began. At first, exports to the United States were limited to the Audi Super 90 (sedan and station wagon), as well as the new Audi 100. Since 1973, they were joined by the Audi 80, which, unlike the European version, was also produced in a station wagon. Later, Audi models received their own designations in the US market: Audi 4000 for the Audi 80, Audi 5000 for the Audi 100.

1980-1991
In March 1980, the Audi booth at the Geneva car showroom became a real sensation, thanks to the new all-wheel drive sports coupe presented on it. For the first time, a passenger car was offered with a drive concept that had hitherto only been used in trucks and SUVs. The idea for such a passenger car arose in the winter of 1976/77. during test runs on the VW Iltis military off-road vehicle being developed. The excellent behavior of this car when driving on ice and snow led to the idea to introduce the all-wheel drive VW Iltis in the production Audi 80. In the same year, development work was carried out, which resulted in the creation of the Audi quattro sports coupe.

The sporty debut of the Audi quattro took place at the beginning of 1981 at the January rally in Austria. The new Audis were out of competition. Until 1985, no one could compete with them. And in 1986, group "b" was closed in which Quattro performed, as the FIA ​​leadership considered these competitions too dangerous. This ended the racing career of this car.

In December 1982, mass production of the Audi quattro was launched - a serial sports coupe with all-wheel drive and outstanding driving characteristics: With a weight of about 1.5 tons, the car had an engine with a power of 200 hp, which allowed it to accelerate to 100 km / h in 7.1 seconds. In 1984, the Audi Sport Quattro became available to customers. It had a body shortened by 300 mm with Kevlar inserts and two engine options - 220 and 306 hp. The latter accelerated the Audi to 100 km / h in 4.9 seconds. The top speed of this car reached 250 km/h. Gradually, the quattro® drive was also offered for other Audi models.

1990-1991
In 1990, Audi AG entered the German championship for the first time. stock cars(DTM). This season's winner was Hans-Joachim Stuck, driving an Audi V8. The following year, Frank Biela, driving an Audi of the same model, was able to successfully defend the championship title.

Audi with V6 engine
In December 1990, the new Audi 100 (internal designation C4), which for the first time in the history of the concern was also offered with a six-cylinder V-engine. Powerful (174 hp) power unit with a working volume of 2.8 liters was the most compact and lightest in its class. It had a new fuel injection system that provided the required high tractive effort at low revs and high power in the upper rev range.

1990-2000
At the Geneva Motor Show in March 1990, Audi AG presented the Audi duo, the production Audi 100 Avant quattro, in which, in addition to the conventional gasoline engine, an electric motor was also installed, driven by rear axle. If necessary, the drive could be switched from a gasoline engine to an electric one. This hybrid car was developed, in particular, for use in the field of public utilities.

In 1993, the Audi Group was formed, which eventually included the Hungarian and Brazilian divisions, the British Cosworth Technology and the Italian Automobili Lamborghini and the Spanish SEAT were absorbed. The company is developing dynamically in most of the auto directions that exist today. These are the business segment (A6), executive (A8), sports and racing cars(Audi TT, A4 sports versions, R8 supercar), as well as Q7, Q5 and Q3 crossovers.

2005 Audi hybrid
On September 12, 2005, at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt (Germany), Audi AG presented its new brainchild - the Audi Q7 hybrid SUV. The uniqueness of this car lies in the fact that it is equipped with two high-tech engines. Simultaneously with the 4.2-litre FSI V8 petrol engine, the Audi Q7 hybrid is equipped with the latest electric motor, which increases the torque specifications by 200 Newton-nA-meter and power output by 32 kW (44 hp).
It is hard to believe that with all this, the technical data of the car can reduce fuel consumption by an average of 13%. Optimization of energy efficiency is achieved through Audi's innovation - intelligent energy management. In addition, the integrated quattro technology provides the SUV with impeccable performance when driving in various road conditions.

2008 - Double victory for Audi all-wheel drive models
Two Audi all-wheel drive models won the 4-4 of the Year 2008 competition organized by the German magazine AUTO BILD ALLRAD. In the 25,000 to 40,000 euro car category, the new Audi A4 quattro won, and the Audi R8 in the all-wheel drive coupé and sports car category. Following the "eight", the second place was taken by Audi model A5 quattro.

Among other models from the German automaker, the Audi A6 quattro and Audi A8 quattro took second and third place in the "over 40,000 euros" category. The prizes were awarded to the winners at the international exhibition Auto Mobil International (AMI) in Leipzig.

Audi realizes its "Superiority high technology» in six factories with legendary automotive manufacturing traditions. Advanced logistics processes, the synchronized Audi Production System and more than 60,000 highly qualified employees guarantee Audi's consistently high standards worldwide. Whether in Germany, Belgium, Hungary, India or China, all Audi manufacturing plants demonstrate the highest quality, efficiency and environmental compatibility.

In Germany, Audi manufactures at two sites with a rich tradition in the automotive industry - in the cities of Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. It is here that technical developments are mainly carried out, and many discoveries have been made here. Visitors have a great opportunity to get into the history and philosophy of the four rings brand. Since 2010, the Brussels plant has been producing the Audi A1. About 1.9 million high-tech engines are produced annually at the Hungarian plant in the city of Gyor. In addition, at Aurangabad and Changchun factories, Audi manufactures premium vehicles for the growing markets of China and India.

Factory in Ingolstadt (Germany)

Over 500,000 vehicles roll off the production line of AUDI AG's largest plant every year. It is here that the production lines for the Audi A3, Audi A4, Audi A5 and Audi Q5 are installed. The Audi TT Coupé and Audi TT Roadster models produced in partnership with Audi Hungaria also pass through the body shop and paint shop.

Factory in Neckarsulm (Germany)

As a traditional center for automotive production, the Neckarsulm city is home to premium models: the Audi A8, Audi A6 and Audi A4. Many typical Audi innovations see the light of day for the first time at this second largest Audi plant in Germany. quattro GmbH builds the Audi A6 and Audi R8 in Neckarsulm. A visit to the Forum Audi in Neckarsulm is an unforgettable experience of immersing yourself in the fascinating world of automotive engineering.

Plant in Gyor (Hungary)

Győr, a Hungarian city on the Danube, is an ideal place for the production of high-tech engines and cars. Its advantages are not limited to a developed labor market with a large number of skilled workers and highly educated graduates.

Factory in Changchun (China)

Audi's activities in China began 20 years ago. In 2007, the company's annual vehicle sales to Chinese customers surpassed the 100,000 mark for the first time. In the same year, more than 93,000 vehicles rolled off the lines of the traditional model factory in Changchun. Today, Audi is the fastest growing premium brand in China and Hong Kong. The company's market share in the premium car segment is about 42%.

Factory in Brussels (Belgium)

The creation of the fourth production site in Europe was the basis for sustaining the sustainable growth achieved by Audi and ensuring it in the long term. The Audi A1 has been produced in Brussels since 2010.

Factory in Aurangabad (India)

At its plant in Maharashtra, Audi manufactures vehicles for sale in the growing Indian market. The plant is located in the university city of Aurangabad. The Audi A6 has been produced here since 2006 and the Audi A4 since 2008. By 2015, the annual production of the Audi A6 should exceed 2,000 vehicles, and the Audi A4 - 11,000.

Factory in Bratislava (Slovakia)

AUDI AG manufactures the Audi Q7 in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Approximately 1,300 people at the modern Volkswagen Slovakia plant assemble this powerful SUV from vehicle kits.

Factory in Martorell (Spain)

The production of the Audi Q3 model began in the first half of 2011. This compact car is assembled using state-of-the-art equipment at the SEAT plant in the Spanish city of Martorell. The annual production volume is over 100,000 vehicles. In 2009 and 2010. for the release of the Audi Q3, a new body shop and assembly line were built. The total capital investment in the production of this model in Martorel exceeded 300 million euros.

Every motorist knows Audi. She received thanks to her consistent quality and original design, whose admirers are located all over the world. The history of Audi went through many difficult stages that made the company what we know it today.

How it all started

Audi is a German company that manufactures passenger cars. The main office of the company is located in the village of Ingolstadt. The centennial history of the name and brand started in 1910, from the time when August Horch decided to register a company, the name of which he took from his last name. Horch means "to hear", which is translated from Latin. At that time, the entrepreneur was already in the position of an auctioneer in a large company, but quickly left it for personal reasons. This was the impetus to start his own business.

August's work has not always had. In 1909, he created a 6-cylinder engine, which immediately failed in sales. This greatly crippled the company, which is why it almost went bankrupt. For this reason, the engineer was quickly fired, but not far away he quickly founded a new company called Horch.

Learn at a glance

Any self-respecting car enthusiast will recognize the Audi logo without error. The history of the emblem was formed around four companies that were united into a single force. Among them were Audi Werke, DKW, August Horch Automobil Werke and Wanderer. The grand merger happened in 1934.

As the history of the badge says, at first it was installed only in racing format cars, and individual design was created for production models. This was later changed, which only attracted potential buyers.

First ideas and steps

The object of the company's enterprises was the construction of machines. Well-known engineers were hired to create original models. Already in the first year of its activity, it was designed Audi-A car. How this model was invented is still unknown to anyone.

Work recognition

Soon, several more models were released, which immediately received recognition from motorists. Germany appreciated the merits of the new brand. So, in 1911 there were big competitions in Austria. The history of the brand remembered this year as the victory of its Audi-B model. Since then, special attention has been focused on subsequent flagships, which have gotten better each time.

1912 became famous with the release of the Audi-C. A test drive for her came at the Alpine races, where she showed quite good results, for which she was given the name "Alpenziger".

The main success of the brand occurred in the 20s, when the company acquired Audi-M and no less famous Audi-K for sale. The first stood out with a capacious engine of 4.7 liters for 6 cylinders, and the second had 2.1 liters for the engine. This made it popular among ordinary car users. But the Audi-M also managed to become one of the fastest cars of that time, because it covered 120 kilometers in 1 hour. This was consistent with the price, which was at the level of branded models.

Problem solving

Success ended in the same 20s, when Audi was threatened with bankruptcy. To solve this problem, management decided to merge with another firm. Thus, in 1928, the DKW company acquired the company's capacities, replacing the main owner with Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen.

When the big economic crisis happened in 1932, it was decided by Auto Union. His task was to combine the well-known and powerful brands Wanderer and DKW, as well as former competitors Audi and Horch. The result of their work was the release of two models, whose work was based on the engine from Wanderer. As the history of Audi testifies, sales seemed quite good.

New format

With the onset of World War II, all partner companies were nationalized. They became one division that was engaged in the production of cars. So in 1949, the company increased its scale thanks to the capacities of Mercedes-Benz. Daimler-Benz AG doubled its efficiency when it acquired shares in Auto Union in 1958 by selling them to Volkswagen. But they decided to keep the name, so the company continued to bear the name Audi.

After a short break in 1968, the company released a front-wheel drive car, which gave good results. With the advent of the Audi Quattro, the company has a good chance to qualify for the sports class. This car took a big leap forward, making it one of the best alternatives yet again. The car was light enough and had excellent protection. Transport fully met the requirements for high-speed rallies, so it was able to compete with other manufacturers.

Change of leadership

In 1969 Neckarsulmer Automobilwerke bought the major shares of Volkswagen, which included Audi. The history of the company's creation indicates that at one time the company had the name Audi NSU Auto Union, but in 1985 it returned to the classic Audi AG.

The strategy of the renewed firm was to organize sales to the United States. It happened in 1970, and the first car that went to another continent was the Audi Super 90. This station wagon immediately got support from users. Later, their ranks were replenished with the Audi 80 model, which had slightly improved characteristics for buyers in the USA. After that, the real models received their designation in this market - Audi 80 and Audi 4000, respectively.

Back to start

In the 80s, some irregularities in the company's work were discovered, so its sales level fell sharply in the US regions. The year 1980 was remembered for the introduction to the market of a big novelty in the form of an all-wheel drive sports class coupe. Previously, a similar model was the Audi quattro, which used a truck drive system.

The creation of this model was indicated in 1977, when, during tests by the Bundeswehr, the flagship VW Iltis attracted everyone's attention. It had excellent driving qualities on ice and snow, so it was decided to implement such a system in Audi 80 cars. This model received a reinforced version with a 5-cylinder and 2.2-liter turbo engine, which produced 147 kW, or 200 horsepower.

More news

The history of the company remembers the introduction into mass production of machines with all-wheel drive. Later, the quattro concept was also offered with other Audi flagships. On the basis of this car, a sports class coupe was launched Audi Coupe which appeared in 1993. Later it was decided to use the original body, which would complement the lineup. This vehicle remained one of the best of its kind for a long time until it was withdrawn from sale in 2000. In general, the total number of manufactured units amounted to 72 thousand.

One of the models that the history of the brand remembered was the Audi 100. Its feature was the use of a six-cylinder V-type engine. This unit is considered the lightest among the model line. But the Audi A4 saw its buyer in 1994. In the same year, the company created the RS2 Avant, a five-seat car with a 315-horsepower fuel-injected turbo engine.

A little later, the famous Golf IV platform laid the foundation for the flagship Audi A3. It was shown in 1996, receiving a lot of positive reviews. A year later, its mass production began. A year later, the presentation of the new flagships took place in Frankfurt am Main. The flagship Audi S4/S4 Avante/RS4 was a striking modification for the "sport" segment at that time. He used a 2.7 V6 biturbo engine for his work, which was able to produce 380 hp. With.

New generation

The history of the concern saw a universal body for the new flagships in 1998. In order to focus on the development and production of such vehicles, it was decided to discontinue the production of the C4 series. Since the company began the production of fundamentally new machines in a short period of time, this was the beginning of the release of a new class B family.

But 1998 was also remembered for the premiere of the Audi TT, which had a coupe-type body. He was seen in Geneva, positively accepting the novelty. A year later, the same fate befell the roadster, which was shown in Frankfurt am Main. In 1999, the Audi A3 sports model was modified, which received a turbocharged engine and an all-wheel drive transmission. The Audi S8 is an analogue of the famous racing car, but it has a 4.2 V8 engine using all-wheel drive.

Views are changing

The year 2000 began for Audi with the premiere of the flagship Audi Allroad, which was based on the A6 Avant. In 2001, a transport with a folding roof was produced, which later began to be assembled at the facilities of Karmann.

Today, the company's facilities are located in different countries and not just in Germany. The company annually tries to increase its scale and capacity. The model range made it possible to satisfy the wishes of each customer, and even fans of powerful cars could choose the Audi Q7 SUV for themselves.

Among the unusual novelties, one can single out the models of the 2000s, which attracted buyers from Asian countries. Production is trying each time to create an increasingly simple and powerful development, which attracts new markets. Such modern views allow you to get more profit and strengthen your position in sales.

A special look at the Audi-M

This model received special attention from the company, because for the first time the emblem "Audi - unit against the background of the globe" was installed on it. For work, a classic six-cylinder engine with a volume of up to 4700 cubic meters was already used. see Power of 70 liters. With. created comfort during the trip. Among the changes was noticed camshaft, which it was decided to move to the top.

The technical side involved the use of aluminum for the cylinder block. Also, the designers took care of the safety of the driver, due to which brake system distributed immediately to four wheels. The highest speed that the flagship could reach was 120 km / h.

How did the Audi 100

This model was widely shown to customers in 1990. She was also known as C4. It was for her that the six-cylinder V-shaped engine was first released. It is small in size, but the power of 174 horsepower was one of the best in its price range.

History of the Audi A4

Among the cars of the Audi brand in the middle class special attention deserves the A4 model. Through the use of rear and front wheel drive management control is improving, so in 1994 active mass production began. The company has introduced a new case design, which qualitatively distinguished the flagship among analogues.

Today, the Audi brand is an integral part of the Volkswagen concern. It is at the stage of rise and growth, as the company has a long history of high quality indicators. This creates successful sales for her, thanks to which there is a constant development.

If you want to buy a quality and affordable car, the Audi brand is an excellent choice. Throughout the history of the company, it has been actively working to improve its models and introduce new technologies. This made it possible to obtain a decent quality.

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One of the largest and most successful German automotive concerns has seen a chic development in recent years. Audi brand cars have always been considered a premium class, under the wing of the huge Audi-Volkswagen corporation, this brand has received great opportunities to use the best technologies, the most successful solutions in the technical and design part. It is these features of the car that attract their customers, despite the ever-increasing price tags and incredible equipment, in which you can find a lot of unnecessary parts. Audi today competes with BMW and is also one of the main rivals of Japanese and American luxury brands. It is this fate that the current features of the growth of the corporation envisage.

Among the first questions that potential car buyers ask is the question of assembling cars. Many people think that all Audi models are like cars. premium segment are assembled exclusively in Germany. In fact, the brand has a mass of assembly plants around the world, which explains its prevalence both on the distant shores of the Atlantic and in the difficult Australian market. It is also an interesting fact that Audi cars are today officially recognized as the best purchase in the secondary market, which increases their popularity due to the proven quality and huge service life. Let's look at the main features of the assembly of cars of this German brand.

Geographic distribution of Audi cars

The automotive companies that make up the Volkswagen AG group are incredibly widespread all over the world. Today it is one of the largest geographic concerns, which successfully operates on almost all continents. In most cases, only SKD machines are assembled outside of Germany, the main production assets are located within the European country. As for Audi cars, the company offers a wide assembly geography. The largest enterprises outside of Germany are located in North America, one of the first markets for the purchase of these vehicles. In general, in the world you can find companies related to Audi in the following countries:

• Germany - more than ten factories of different directions and large research and engineering centers;
• USA - the largest assembly and production site with its own model range and technical features;
• Brazil - five enterprises that produce SKD for all Latin American countries;
• Argentina and Mexico are two other Latin countries where some models are assembled;
• South Africa - almost the entire model range for Africa is assembled at a large plant in this country;
• India and Malaysia are Asian concerns created to reduce the cost of some production processes;
• China is a huge division of Audi that designs and manufactures engines, bodies and all other parts for cars in Asia;
• Slovakia and Belgium - some engineering developments for the concern are carried out in these countries.

There are also assembly facilities for Audi cars in Russia, but they are not very common. The Volkswagen AG plant in Kaluga today assembles the Audi A6 and the Audi A8, two of the most popular sedans in their class for the Russian market. In most cases, these machines are sold to businesses or politicians, so the corporation left mass assembly in our country. The remaining models, which were previously assembled in Russia, left our conveyors and are exported to the country from Europe. This caused a slight increase in the price of cars, but the quality has increased significantly. Let's just say Kaluga assembly needs some changes in technological process. This is evidenced by the deteriorating reviews of the new popular A6 sedans.

The main assembly features of the Audi concern

The company has time to monitor all its divisions. The concern conducts strict assembly quality control, which is what caused the removal of some Audi models from Russian production, in particular the Q5 and Q7 crossovers. Customers expect more from a company than just good quality. In Europe, the assembly of Audi takes place in full, every detail of the future vehicle is subject to strict certification. It is worth noting that the corporation is actively developing technologies that will later be successfully inherited by other brands of the concern. Today, the main tasks and principles of the company are as follows:

• the highest quality of cars, the absence of any childhood diseases in new developments;
• extended testing of each technology that is introduced into the technical or functional part of the machines;
• certification of each individual piece of equipment, testing and grinding of parts at the factory;
• maximum automation of production even in those countries where it is more profitable to use manual labor;
• assembly control, which is carried out by German experts at each plant where Audi is assembled;
• multi-stage system for selecting materials for the interior, high-quality plastic and excellent layout;
• the most modern design features, a constant competition among the best designers of the company.

Audi is one of the few brands that does not have one permanent design office. The corporation collects a competitive submission from different departments of its designers, and then selects the best practices. However, other projects do not remain idle, because the company has brands such as Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat, which are less picky about the appearance of their equipment. That is why Audi always has the best design features among those presented to the management to choose from. However, this is a rather subjective field of activity, because someone likes the Spanish Seat much more than the classic stylish image of Audi.

New models - smart development of technology from Audi

Not a single model lingers today on the conveyor of a corporation for more than five years. Yes, and five years for such cars can be quite a long time. Therefore, in most cases, the corporation offers an updated style of its cars even before the old design becomes irrelevant. Many potential buyers are surprised at the speed with which the design range of cars is being updated, but this is not too much of a concern for the company's picky management. In 2015, the corporation introduced a fairly large number of new products and restyling, the main attention among which is attracted by the following updates:

• Audi RS4 Avant - a large station wagon with sports performance and futuristic design, stiff suspension and powerful engines, costs from 4,700,000 rubles;
• Audi RS5 Coupe - a chic sports car with incredible style and very advanced technology, the car is able to surprise with sporty dynamics and a price of 4,800,000 rubles;
• Audi S6 Avant - a new model with sporty inclinations, low ground clearance and amazing dynamics, chic engines make the trip unforgettable, and the price is raised to 4,480,000 rubles;
• Audi Q3 and RS Q3 are amazing compact crossovers with a real zeal for the future, not only in design but also in the technical part, the cars start at a price of 1,615,000 and 2,990,000 rubles, respectively;
• Audi Q7 - a generation-changing large crossover has become the focus of the company's lineup, optimal appearance and improved equipment began to cost from 3,630,000 rubles.

Do not forget about such designer models as the Audi TTS Coupe and Audi R8 Coupe. These are the most expensive and unique representatives cars from the German concern, which proved their right to exist with unexpectedly high sales worldwide. New developments in the design of the automobile concern are becoming even more aggressive, the company offers more and more interesting features and presents unforgettable features of the technical part of its cars. Development does not stop even for a second, so next year we will look at the Audi lineup with completely different eyes. Let's be amazed by Audi's new technologies as we test drive the 2015 Q7:

Summing up

A different look at Audi cars can provide both unexpected surprise and disappointment. Some people liked the soft, flowing lines of the premium sedans of the early 2000s, while others prefer the unique sharp and aggressive design of the current generation of cars. But we can safely say that the company is growing faster than its competitors, offering more affordable models with no less exciting technology under the hood. Also, it will not be superfluous to notice the unique developments of the corporation, which amaze the imagination with their capabilities.

It is still difficult to predict what will be the further development of geography Volkswagen AG and Audi. But it can be unmistakably said that the growth and expansion of the corporation is inevitable. Today we see the future in the machines of this company. All European concerns are trying to imitate the technical and visual developments that the German luxury brand offers. And how do you feel about the modern style and features of the development of the technical part of the Audi automobile company?

To characterize the situation with Audi sales in Russia, the epithet "disastrous" seems to us the most appropriate, and here's why. Recall how after the peak of 2012, when Russia became the fifth market in the world after China, the USA, Japan and Germany, already in 2013 the demand for cars began to creep downhill. The premium segment was still growing out of inertia, including Audi: in 2013 the brand attracted more buyers than in 2012, although the increase (+8%) was not as significant as that of Mercedes-Benz (+19%) and BMW (+12%).

Of all the players in the premium segment, which to some extent can compete with Audi in terms of the model range, only Infiniti (-43%) and Land Rover(-58%). At the same time, it is obvious that these brands are much better at resisting challenges - their model lines are significantly “shorter”, and it is much more difficult for them to maneuver in a crisis.

By 2017, the dynamics of falling demand for Land Rover models had practically gone to zero (-3%), while for Infiniti it went into the “green” zone (+10%), while Audi in 2017, on the contrary, became the “anti-leader” , showing an 18% drop in sales. Not only in the premium segment, but in general, not a single major brand that sold more than 2.5 thousand cars in Russia last year had such a stunning result. The exception is UAZ, the demand for which to some extent depends on orders from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and government agencies.

Moreover, the performance of Infiniti and Land Rover only favorably sets off the fact that Volkswagen Group Rus has an industrial assembly agreement. Last year (according to Vedomosti), apart from the Audi Q7, no other models of the Ingolstadt brand were assembled in Kaluga - A8 and A6 due to the upcoming generation change (the Audi A8 had it in the fall of 2017, the A6 - this year) previously removed from the conveyor. However, the Q7 full-size crossover is not just one of the brand's popular models, for the last two years (2016 and 2017) it has been Audi's bestseller in Russia, so the ability to play the price of this car is a very important tool that determines sales success.

And now let's turn to the result of Lexus, which, in a good way, should be included in the anthology. In 2017, the brand sold 50% more than in 2013. There is no one close to this result in the premium segment - sales of others have fallen, and Porsche and Jaguar, who have managed to increase sales, still do not sell such large volumes. At the same time, Lexus imports its entire model range to Russia, which, by the way, is not as wide as that of the "Germans".

Moreover, Lexus unconditionally lost the “glade” of sedans to the German trio, unless, of course, you count the ES - turned Toyota Camry. IS and GS left Russia altogether, last year only 14 warehouse vehicles were sold in LS. As for the new generation LS, which has already been announced in Russia, it will only join a number of eminent extras: in the Russian segment of F-class sedans, the Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse reigns supreme, which is only partially competed by the BMW “seven”, gaining, however, only up to half of the leader's sales: 1230 units for BMW versus 2503 for Mercedes (including all bodies).

To a greater extent, this (the drop in Audi sales - ed.) is the "merit" of Lexus, whose Russian sales increased by 50% over the same period. In other words, how much Audi has fallen - how much Lexus has grown. It was the Japanese brand that ousted Audi from the "big German three", which, in fact, turned into a "two". I think that Lexus has correctly relied on the SUV segment, which has become one of the largest in Russia in recent years. Lexus has an SUV share of over 90%, while Audi has just over half.

Azat Timerkhanov

Head of the press service of the analytical agency "Avtostat"

Let's go back to the Audi model range in Russia and see which cars the brand lost a depressing 18% of volume last year. So, 80% of sales fell on the following items: Q7 (3,769 pcs.), A6 (2,996 pcs.), Q5 (2,734 pcs.), A4 (2,085 pcs.), Q3 (1,955 pcs.). The leading model lost 26%, A6 remained practically at zero, Q5 was missing 24% at the change of generations, A4 added 10%, Q3 sank by 22%.

Why ordinary consumers have become less fond of Audi? The question is not easy, but the fact that it is private traders, and not legal entities, that cause the drawdown is clearly shown by the statistics of fleet sales. At Audi, the Q7 (1,632 units) and A6 (sedan, 1,519 units) set the tone here. Compared to competitors, the figures are quite decent: BMW X5 - 1,798 units. and BMW 5 - 1,718 units, Mercedes-Benz GLE - 845 units, Mercedes-Benz GLS - 1,379 units. and Mercedes-Benz E sedan - 1,451 units.

Now let's look at the map of Russia - where is Audi inferior to competitors? And everywhere, and in the capitals - especially strongly. In Moscow, BMW sells better by 81%, Mercedes-Benz - by 120%. Lexus and Audi are almost on par, but Lexus is a little better. St. Petersburg dealers of Audi are even less pleased with the representation: BMW is doing better here by 108%, Mercedes-Benz - by 160%, Lexus, however, is a little behind. A similar picture is observed in Krasnodar, but “starting from Kazan”, the distance between Audi and fellow luxury brands is shrinking, and Lexus even shows pockets of increased demand.

Meanwhile, not to say that Audi is so bad with the breadth of geography - brand dealers in 2017 worked in 40 cities, while BMW, say, only 39, Lexus - again 40. Mercedes-Benz the network is slightly wider - 46 settlements, but these "extra six" give a very small increase to the sales volume of the rest. Audi outlets in Volgograd and Vologda stopped sales last year. Flashes of activity were recorded in Khabarovsk, where Audi Center sold 2 cars for the whole year (in September) and Murmansk (one car each in January and October) - now there are only service enterprises there.

Why has Audi sales in Russia been falling for years in a row? You might think it's because of the high prices. No, Audi prices are the same, and sometimes, taking into account big discounts, and below. Actually, all premium brands are dumping - this allows a high margin, and often they try to outdo each other, say, at the end of the year. In this case, under favorable conditions, a discount relative to the nominal price of full size SUV can be up to 500 thousand rubles, but, of course, for a version in a rich configuration.

Maybe it's in any scandals about reliability? Hardly. For the imperfection of automatic machines with two clutches, it was mainly Volkswagen that took the rap. From the TSI engine line, the owners had the most problems with, but we have with this Audi engine sold little. But the history of a liter could really affect demand. Interestingly, the same problems with gigantic oil consumption were resolved only by 2013-2014, when an unbridled drop in sales began ... However, if in Russia people massively refused to buy because of imperfection automotive technology, Audi would not be the first brand to leave our market. Take a BMW...

There are probably hidden reasons for the drop in sales, which only company employees know about, but others lie on the surface. For example, the global management of the brand at one time missed the moment to launch the so-called crossover coupes, and meanwhile, competitive pairs of Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe/ BMW X6 and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe / BMW X4 brought 10,616 buying votes in Russia last year. That is, if Audi had at least one of these cars in stock, sales would obviously be better. Otherwise, Audi is not a competitor to Mercedes and BMW.

What is the picture on a global scale? It turns out that in almost all key global markets, Audi is doing very well and sales are growing! Well, except that Brazil let us down, and so, judge for yourself.

Let's pay attention to the positive dynamics in the USA. Now let's look at the details. It turns out that in America, as well as in Russia, Audi is not included in the premium trio. In 2017, 226,511 Audis were sold in the US, Mercedes-Benz 337,246, Lexus 305,132, BMW 305,685. Maybe Audi is really not yet up to the premium segment? ..

By the way, in the US market, success or failure is often associated with the results of research by independent agencies, and judging by last year's J.D. Power rating regarding reliability, the sales situation seems quite logical. After studying the three years of the car, the experts found that in terms of PP100, that is, “the number of faults per 100 cars”, Audi is far from up to par. With an average market performance of 156 РР100, 153 РР100 were recorded on the “three-year-olds” of Audi. The leader of the rating was Lexus with an indicator of only 100 PP100, Mercedes-Benz showed the fifth result (113 PP100), BMW - seventh (139 PP100).

Russian ratings also do not single out Audi. According to Avtostat data, Audi has a very high loss of value. And this is precisely the factor that can really weaken the buyer's interest - who would want to lose three or four hundred thousand rubles in resale? Only in one category out of seven - in the "compact crossover" Audi Q3 took second place, in other categories in the top three winners, no Audi model. In the "general standings" they also did without Audi - the prizes were shared by Volvo, Lexus and Porsche.

In short, it is obvious that many questions have accumulated about the work of the Russian representative office of Audi, and it would be logical to ask them to the head of the division, Lubomir Naiman. Alas, our request for an interview was rejected by the Audi press service: “In the next few months, Lubomir has a very busy schedule, unfortunately, it has not yet turned out. We will contact you as soon as possible."

Nymann's predecessor, the German Achim Sauer, was dismissed from his post in the fall of 2015. According to RBC - just for weak sales. In 2017, Audi, led by Nyman, sold by 34% fewer cars than in 2015, but for now, Lubomir Naiman, who joined Audi from Skoda, remains in his post. It remains to be hoped that the actual refusal to conduct an interview is not related to his imminent resignation.

One of the largest and most successful German automotive concerns has seen a chic development in recent years. Audi brand cars have always been considered a premium class, under the wing of the huge Audi-Volkswagen corporation, this brand has received great opportunities to use the best technologies, the most successful solutions in the technical and design part. It is these features of the car that attract their customers, despite the ever-increasing price tags and incredible equipment, in which you can find a lot of unnecessary parts. Audi today competes with BMW and is also one of the main rivals of Japanese and American luxury brands. It is this fate that the current features of the growth of the corporation envisage.

Among the first questions that potential car buyers ask is the question of assembling cars. Many people believe that all Audi models, as premium cars, are assembled exclusively in Germany. In fact, the brand has a mass of assembly plants around the world, which explains its prevalence both on the distant shores of the Atlantic and in the difficult Australian market. It is also an interesting fact that Audi cars are today officially recognized as the best purchase in the secondary market, which increases their popularity due to the proven quality and huge service life. Let's look at the main features of the assembly of cars of this German brand.

Geographic distribution of Audi cars

The automotive companies that make up the Volkswagen AG group are incredibly widespread all over the world. Today it is one of the largest geographic concerns, which successfully operates on almost all continents. In most cases, only SKD machines are assembled outside of Germany, the main production assets are located within the European country. As for Audi cars, the company offers a wide assembly geography. The largest enterprises outside of Germany are located in North America, one of the first markets for the purchase of these vehicles. In general, in the world you can find companies related to Audi in the following countries:

• Germany - more than ten factories of different directions and large research and engineering centers;
• USA - the largest assembly and production unit with its own model range and technical features;
• Brazil - five enterprises that produce SKD for all Latin American countries;
• Argentina and Mexico are two other Latin countries where some models are assembled;
• South Africa - almost the entire model range for Africa is assembled at a large plant in this country;
• India and Malaysia are Asian concerns created to reduce the cost of some production processes;
• China is a huge division of Audi that designs and manufactures engines, bodies and all other parts for cars in Asia;
• Slovakia and Belgium - some engineering developments for the concern are carried out in these countries.

There are also assembly facilities for Audi cars in Russia, but they are not very common. The Volkswagen AG plant in Kaluga today assembles the Audi A6 and the Audi A8, two of the most popular sedans in their class for the Russian market. In most cases, these machines are sold to businesses or politicians, so the corporation left mass assembly in our country. The remaining models, which were previously assembled in Russia, left our conveyors and are exported to the country from Europe. This caused a slight increase in the price of cars, but the quality has increased significantly. Let's face it, the Kaluga assembly needs certain changes in the technological process. This is evidenced by the deteriorating reviews of the new popular A6 sedans.

The main assembly features of the Audi concern

The company has time to monitor all its divisions. The concern conducts strict assembly quality control, which is what caused the removal of some Audi models from Russian production, in particular the Q5 and Q7 crossovers. Customers expect more from a company than just good quality. In Europe, the assembly of Audi takes place in full, every detail of the future vehicle is subject to strict certification. It is worth noting that the corporation is actively developing technologies that will later be successfully inherited by other brands of the concern. Today, the main tasks and principles of the company are as follows:

• the highest quality of cars, the absence of any childhood diseases in new developments;
• extended testing of each technology that is introduced into the technical or functional part of the machines;
• certification of each individual piece of equipment, testing and grinding of parts at the factory;
• maximum automation of production even in those countries where it is more profitable to use manual labor;
• assembly control, which is carried out by German experts at each plant where Audi is assembled;
• multi-stage system for selecting materials for the interior, high-quality plastic and excellent layout;
• the most modern design features, a constant competition among the best designers of the company.

Audi is one of the few brands that does not have one permanent design office. The corporation collects a competitive submission from different departments of its designers, and then selects the best practices. However, other projects do not remain idle, because the company has brands such as Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat, which are less picky about the appearance of their equipment. That is why Audi always has the best design features among those presented to the management to choose from. However, this is a rather subjective field of activity, because someone likes the Spanish Seat much more than the classic stylish image of Audi.

New models - smart development of technology from Audi

Not a single model lingers today on the conveyor of a corporation for more than five years. Yes, and five years for such cars can be quite a long time. Therefore, in most cases, the corporation offers an updated style of its cars even before the old design becomes irrelevant. Many potential buyers are surprised at the speed with which the design range of cars is being updated, but this is not too much of a concern for the company's picky management. In 2015, the corporation introduced a fairly large number of new products and restyling, the main attention among which is attracted by the following updates:

• Audi RS4 Avant - a large station wagon with sporty performance and futuristic design, stiff suspension and powerful engines, costs from 4,700,000 rubles;
• Audi RS5 Coupe - a chic sports car with incredible style and very advanced technology, the car is able to surprise with sporty dynamics and a price of 4,800,000 rubles;
• Audi S6 Avant - a new model with sporty inclinations, low ground clearance and amazing dynamics, chic engines make the trip unforgettable, and the price is raised to 4,480,000 rubles;
• Audi Q3 and RS Q3 are amazing compact crossovers with a real zeal for the future, not only in design but also in the technical part, the cars start at a price of 1,615,000 and 2,990,000 rubles, respectively;
• Audi Q7 - a generation-changing large crossover has become the focus of the company's lineup, the optimal appearance and advanced technology began to cost from 3,630,000 rubles.

Do not forget about such designer models as the Audi TTS Coupe and Audi R8 Coupe. These are the most expensive and unique representatives of passenger cars from the German concern, which have proven their right to exist with unexpectedly high sales around the world. New developments in the design of the automobile concern are becoming even more aggressive, the company offers more and more interesting features and presents unforgettable features of the technical part of its cars. Development does not stop even for a second, so next year we will look at the Audi lineup with completely different eyes. Let's be amazed by Audi's new technologies as we test drive the 2015 Q7:

Summing up

A different look at Audi cars can provide both unexpected surprise and disappointment. Some people liked the soft, flowing lines of the premium sedans of the early 2000s, while others prefer the unique sharp and aggressive design of the current generation of cars. But we can safely say that the company is growing faster than its competitors, offering more affordable models with no less exciting technology under the hood. Also, it will not be superfluous to notice the unique developments of the corporation, which amaze the imagination with their capabilities.

It is still difficult to predict what will be the further development of the geography of Volkswagen AG and Audi. But it can be unmistakably said that the growth and expansion of the corporation is inevitable. Today we see the future in the machines of this company. All European concerns are trying to imitate the technical and visual developments that the German luxury brand offers. And how do you feel about the modern style and features of the development of the technical part of the Audi automobile company?

In the market or in the store, it has always been a special argument in favor of the profitability of making a purchase, mainly when it characterized expensive products, in particular, equipment and transport. For many years, for every car owner, a car with the coveted four rings under the Audi brand has been an indisputable example of reliability and quality. Most drivers and potential buyers of cars are sure that the country of manufacture of Audi and the place of assembly are absolutely identical concepts, which is initially an incorrect statement. In this article, we will tell you where Audi is assembled, focusing on the model range and popular specimens from the manufacturer, whether German ones can be in the Russian Federation and how significant the impact of this fact on the reliability, quality parameters and performance properties of a car is.

Location of factories for the production of Audi cars.

A bit of history

At the present time, as throughout the long period of the existence of Audi, its products were considered first-class, reliable and worthy of the consumer's attention. The entire range of cars under this brand belongs to the premium category, characterized by perfection from both a technological and design standpoint. The history of the company's existence spans over a hundred years, during which time the company has experienced many transformations and changes, improved and grown, and today it is one of the leading and competitive corporations in the automotive industry. For the first time, the world heard about the Audi brand back in 1910: after that, the company was renamed several times due to the legal and social nuances of that time, returning its name only in 1965. At the present time, the company is successfully operating as part of the Volkswagen-Audi concern, conquering ever larger market segments and positive ambitions of consumers, despite the far from democratic cost of its cars.

The scale of production of cars under the Audi brand is truly global: the group's vehicles are delivered to almost all corners of the world, which makes you wonder if several factories in Germany can handle such volumes of work? Of course not: the concern's branches have a global geography, which predetermines the need to specify before, whose assembly of a particular model, since this indicator can determine the quality of products and its operational resources.

Location of Audi branches

Germany is indicated in the technical documentation for Audi cars, however, the manufacturer of the product does not always have a German location. The concern's branches are located on almost all continents, which makes it possible to actively supply products to all countries of the world, to cope with the global scale of production work, while simultaneously developing new copies, strengthening its position in the market. As for production, all significant components and assemblies that predetermine the appropriate functionality of the vehicle are manufactured mainly at German factories. Branches in most cases are engaged in assembly work, which minimizes the factor of non-compliance of the goods with the world brand. The location of the assembly plants of the Audi group is predetermined by their following geography:

1. Germany, as a manufacturing country for Audi, has more than two dozen vehicle manufacturing enterprises, as well as centers directly involved in design and engineering issues.
2. In the United States, the largest complex in terms of scale and production trends is located, where Audi of almost all modifications is assembled, providing North American regions with 100% production.
3. The production departments in Brazil - five SKD subsidiaries, as well as factories in Argentina and Mexico, where certain Audi models are assembled, provide products for the Latin American automotive markets.
4. Models for African countries are produced at a factory in South Africa.
5. Asian consumers have the opportunity to purchase vehicles under the Audi brand in the domestic automotive markets, assembled at factories in India and Malaysia, with SKD parts made in China.
6. In European countries, in addition to cars with an absolute German pedigree, Audi models can be supplied, completed at enterprises in Slovakia and Belgium.
7. The Russian plant in Kaluga deals with SKD machines supplied to domestic markets.

Let's try to answer the current questions of domestic consumers, which Audi models are assembled in Russia, who produces cars for the Russian market that are not manufactured in Kaluga, we will analyze how the fact of domestic intervention in the configuration of cars is reflected in the quality and operational features of products.

Guarantees from the manufacturer or dependence of reliability on the location of the assembly branch

The German manufacturer has been characterized as a responsible and reliable car supplier for many years of its existence on the market. Despite the fact that the branches of the Audi plant are scattered around the world, the Germans are scrupulous about the manufacture of products at absolutely all plants, the human factor influencing the quality of products is minimized. Each enterprise of the concern, regardless of which country it is, has modern, modernized equipment for the production of products that meets international standards, and each car supplied for sale undergoes the strictest technological control. Even at subsidiaries in African and some Asian countries, where it would be much cheaper to use human labor, the German manufacturer refuses such a solution to the problem, preferring, despite significant financial costs, to produce suitable, reliable and technologically perfect products.

There were precedents when the concern, in favor of supplying quality goods, refused to manufacture certain models if there were complaints from technologists about the quality of the machines produced. For example, in Russia, the Audi Q5 and Q7 models were withdrawn from production due to a decrease in demand for them due to the inconsistency in the quality of the assembled cars. Statistics and user reviews show that product quality does not suffer from which branch directly produced the Audi car, where the car was assembled, however, exceptions to the rules were still registered. This fact makes potential buyers, when choosing a vehicle, especially a premium category from the range of the Audi concern, to figure out where this or that model is assembled.

Pedigree of Audi cars for the domestic market

Some time ago, at the opening of the plant in Kaluga and the start of its operation, the management of the concern planned the mass production of Audi products in Russia, which would almost completely meet the needs of domestic buyers, and not only. However, the plans were changed due to the low-quality performance of some copies of the machines: the popular models from the “ku” line of versions 5 and 7 did not meet the expectations of the consumer, because their production in Russia was discontinued. At present, for Russia, the Audi Q5 model is delivered directly from Germany, and only a plant in Slovakia is engaged in the manufacture of Q7 crossovers. As for the compact, popular Q3 model, consumers have no complaints about the quality of its production, they are assembled exclusively in Spain, where production has been established since 2011, workshops are equipped and the manufacturing process is organized at the highest level in accordance with modern technological requirements.

A plant in Russia currently assembles sixth and eighth versions of the A-line sedans, which are popular among domestic consumers. There are not very pleasant rumors about the quality of the Audi A6 cars assembled at the Kaluga plant, however, potential buyers should not immediately refuse to purchase this model. In parallel, copies of these versions of cars from Europe are supplied to the domestic market, which allows you to make a purchase “without risk”, however, the cost of imported cars will be significantly higher. Manufacturers explain this discrepancy in prices not by quality indicators of products, but by increased costs for transporting cars.

A lot of discussions are going on in Russia among consumers on the topic where the Audi A4 is assembled, which is interesting in terms of purchase both for “ordinary” people with funds and for premium buyers. The fact is that back in 2013, it was planned to start the SKD assembly of these models at the Kaluga plant. These plans never became a reality, although initially the German manufacturers gave the official "go-ahead" for the production of A4 in Russia. The delivery of this model to the domestic market has been established directly from Germany, despite the fact that its assembly is also carried out in other branches scattered across the continents. The answer to the question of where the Audi A3 is assembled for Russia is not so unambiguous: cars of this version are produced both in Germany and Belgium, and in China, which requires checking the model's pedigree before purchasing.

Summing up

High-tech, advanced, modern, innovative and reliable - these are the characteristics of cars under the Audi brand, which are the object of dreams for many, a legend in the automotive industry. Large-scale production of Audi vehicles is established both in Germany, where the central production facilities are located, and around the world. The manufacturer gives official guarantees for all goods presented for sale, assuring the consumer that the location of the assembly branch is not reflected in the quality and performance of the products. If you still do not want to become the owner of the legendary Audi of African or Chinese assembly, before purchasing the product, do not be too lazy to find out the history of your preferred model by checking the transportation route of a particular car in the dealer company's documentation, or by entering the car by VIN code when it is purchased on the secondary market.

Due to their quality assembly, Audi cars are among the most reliable used cars. The company has a very memorable logo, consisting of four rings. The competition is made up of two companies - "BMW" and " Mercedes Benz". The feud began in 2006 with the release of a congratulatory video by BMW for Audi winning the Best Car in South Africa.

Story

The Audi company was born in 1909, ahead of its main competitors. The headquarters of the group is located in Ingolstadt.

Cars currently in production were originally produced under the Auto Union brand. The takeoff of the company occurred after the Second World War thanks to the purchase of all shares by Daimler-Benz AG. In 1964, Auto Union became a subsidiary of Volkswagen. Thanks to them joint activities the concern produced many iconic cars, such as the Audi 100 (popularly called it a cigarette), Audi 80, Audi Q7 and many others.

The company is still not losing ground in the automotive market, producing more and more premium cars, an example of which is the new Audi A8.

Where is Audi assembled?

Volkswagen manages all production tasks as it is the parent company. The production of cars from Germany is dispersed around the world. Today it is located in more than 10 countries.

• Germany. It houses the headquarters of the company. It is the main assembly country for Audi, the center of production and design. There are more than 10 workshops, as well as engineering centers.
• Argentina. Produces cars for the South American automotive market.
• China. Many components are produced in factories in China (engine, suspension, bodywork).
• USA. Here is the largest production and design complex.
• Brazil. There are five factories for the production of cars for the South American auto industry.
• South Africa. For the African car industry, almost all models are produced here.
• Slovakia. Many design works are carried out in this country.
• India. Here is the production that produces certain models. For the most part, they are cheaper than German-assembled cars.

The production of cars from Germany under the brand name "Audi" is carried out according to all the canons of the German assembly. We can highlight the main features and principles of design and production of Audi cars:

• the best quality and complete exclusion of the possibility of defective parts;
• constant testing of cars for safety, patency, technical qualities and much more;
• production is fully automated, manual assembly is not present at any Audi plant;
• production is supervised by experts with many years of experience;
• the ability to choose options for interior decoration, vehicle functionality, technical characteristics and much more;
• continuous development of production, adjustment to modern technologies.

Lineup and prices for "Audi"

For 2018, the company produces cars of different price categories, functionality and technical characteristics. List of the latest lineup and prices for Audi:

• "Audi-A7" Sportback: a sports sedan with a rounded back, updated optics. Popular color: blue. The cost depends on the configuration: 4,300,000 - 5,000,000 rubles.
• "Audi-RS4" Avant: station wagon of the RS line, which received an updated design and technical components. The cost of the car is 5,400,000 rubles.;
• "Audi-A8": a premium class sedan, received a new interior and exterior design. The most notable change was the grille. The price varies from 6,000,000 to 7,140,000 rubles, depending on the configuration.
• Audi Q7: A premium SUV with new LED headlights, grille and updated interior. The price ranges from 3,870,000 to 5,200,000 rubles.

New Audi cars

To date, all Audi models have been produced for no more than five years, then they are replaced by new ones. Over the past three years, the interior design has been completely changed in cars. Since 2018, the interior has received more interactive touch displays, as, for example, in the Audi A8, where one display is responsible for interior functionality, the second for navigation, multimedia, and the third for the dashboard.

There is also a new model in the RS line - "Audi-RS6", which received a matte gray design, and also became one of the most powerful and fast cars the Audi company.

The new A8 received an updated look, interior, functionality and specifications. Now this car is not inferior to the premium cars of the seventh BMW series and the Mercedes S-class.

Also in 2019, it is planned to release a new Q8, which should appear to the public in Germany, where Audi is assembled.

The most popular Audi cars

The popularity of the Audi company was brought by a lot of cars, as well as the fact that even twenty-year-old cars are reliable and serve the car owner without serious breakdowns. The most popular models were "Audi-100", "Audi-80", "Audi-Q7", as well as new models: "Audi-A8", "Audi-R8", and "Audi-RS6", which turned out not only an ordinary station wagon, but also an excellent sports car.

The most popular cars on the roads of Russia are "Audi-A6" 1996-2002 release in the station wagon.

After increasing demand for the coupe, Audi updated the A6 version, dividing it into a sedan, station wagon and coupe, the latter's version became known as the "Audi-A5".

Assembly of "Audi" in Russia

The production of Audi cars is located in many countries. In Russia, where Audi is assembled for the Russian market, it also has its own production workshops.

In Kaluga, only one model is produced - the Audi-Q7. Before Russian assembly Audi produced a large model range, but production was reduced due to low demand for these cars in the Russian market, as well as due to the depreciation of the ruble.

Models such as A1, R8, A8, TT and convertibles of the third and fifth versions were discontinued in Russia due to new requirements of Russian legislation, according to which new cars must be equipped with the ERA-GLONASS system. But, due to Audi's policy, this is not possible.

Audi was founded in 1910 by a young engineer, August Horch. This was his second attempt at starting his own business: the first company, Horch & Co, was created back in 1899. However, in 1909 he was forced to leave Horch & Co by court order. The reason was disagreements with partner creditors.

Horch's new company, founded in the town of Chemnitz, at first, like the previous one, bore his name. When the city authorities found out about this, the court assigned a different name to the new company, "Audi". Some sources claim that one of Horch's business partners came up with it. He simply suggested using the same word, "Horch" (which means "listen" in German), but in the Latin version - "Audi".

The Audi logo is four silver rings. They symbolize the 1932 merger of four companies - DKW, Audi, Horch and Wanderer - into the Auto Union automobile concern. At first, the Audi emblem was installed only on cars designed for racing, and on serial models there were nameplates - specially made plates.

Pre-war history of "Audi"

Audi-A was the firstborn of the new company. It came out in 1910. The next one was the Audi-B. This model was raced in Austria. The 2.5 thousand km long route passed through the Alps. In 1912, in Auto Alpenfart (as the Austrian races were called), the Audi-S proved to be excellent. This model was later called "Alpenziger", which means "Conqueror of the Alps".

Financial problems began with the firm in the twenties. First, she merged with another, then both became the property of Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen. The same problems forced small manufacturers to create the Auto Union concern in 1932. It included, among others, both companies created by Horch. True, by this time he himself had not been engaged in production for a long time (since 1916).

The concern produced two front-wheel drive models equipped with Wanderer engines. They were in demand and sold well until the war began.

Audi after the war

The Auto Union concern was nationalized at the end of the war. A major reform took place in 1949, when the basic rights of Auto Union were transferred to Mercedes-Benz. Then the controlling stake passed several times from one company to another. The Audi brand disappeared for several years.

The name Audi reappeared only in 1965, when Volkswagen took ownership of the shares. The four circles assigned by Audi since the merger of the four firms (1932) are emblazoned on the hoods of all models of this car.

By 1968, Audi was introduced to the markets in a wide range. Its sales have grown steadily.

Being the "daughter" of the famous Volkswagen, Audi gained worldwide fame largely thanks to the "Audi Quattro" model. This car had athletic appearance"and all-wheel drive. It was light, fast and amazingly stable. Few people could compete with the Quattro, which was confirmed by the results of several auto races.

Since 1958, the company has been called Audi AG. The German automotive company is part of the Volkswagen Group, one of the world's most powerful concerns.

The production of cars is increasing year by year. Since the 10th year of our century, it has exceeded 1 million pieces.

The Audi lineup is very extensive. It is represented by luxury cars, racing cars, supercars, and crossovers.

Thanks to its excellent technical characteristics, Audi is very popular, including in Russia. It should be noted that not only new cars are in demand here. The sale of the model is also excellent in the secondary car markets. And especially ardent fans German cars, you can advise special gadgets for the computer, such as a Mercedes flash drive.

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Interesting facts, technology and motorsport

Audi was the first company to conduct crash tests (since 1938).

The Audi 80 was first sold in North America as the Audi Fox and later as the Audi 4000.

Audi is the first automaker to create its own virtual world in the open spaces of the PlayStation Home resource. At the service of visitors - tours of the virtual Audi space Space and the opportunity to participate in the Vertical Run race.

Audi cars have won the prestigious Le Mans 24 race three times in a row - in 2000, 2001 and 2002. To celebrate this great success, the Audi Le Mans quattro sports concept was presented in Frankfurt in 2003.

Key models in the history of the brand

Audi 80 is one of the most popular cars of the 20th century. The total volume of produced machines has more than 4 million copies. The model was produced for 30 years - from 1966 to 1996. Initially, the car was manufactured on the same platform as the Volkswagen Passat. In 1987, a new Audi generation 80 on the B3 platform, which no longer had anything in common with Volkswagen. The body of the B3 was completely galvanized, which provided such high protection against corrosion that Audi extended the warranty period from 8 to 12 years. Galvanized bodies are also used to build current Audi models.

The Audi Quattro is the company's first rally car. Thanks to innovations in the rules that allowed the use of four-wheel drive cars in competition, Quattro was able to participate in the races. The car won two competitions in a row.

The development of the famous Audi TT began in September 1994 in California. The first concept car was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1995. The next modification of the model, the Audi TT Coupe, was demonstrated by the developers to the visitors of the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005. The new TT was much lighter than the previous one thanks to the use of a combination of aluminum and steel materials.

The company began producing the Audi Q7 crossover in 2005. The first instance of criticism was seen at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The "E" platform model is based on the 2003 Audi Pikes Peak quattro concept.

Audi A3 – family hatchback. In 1996 - 2003, the first generation was produced, from 2003 to 2012 - the second. More recently, the third generation of a compact car has appeared, which quickly became popular in European countries. Audi A3 has many different awards.

Audiin Russia

One of the first Audis to appear in Russia was the Audi 80 B3. The famous "barrel" with the 89th body quickly became popular due to its simple design: motorists who were well versed in front-wheel drive VAZs could easily change parts for Audi. Some even modernized their foreign cars, replacing parts with domestic counterparts. The Audi 80 was also loved in Russia for its high suspension strength - the car conquered domestic roads with unprecedented agility for a foreign car.

Today, Audi does not give up its position as a sales leader among premium cars in the domestic market. From January to August 2012, 22,292 copies were sold, up 41% from 2011 figures. But these cars are not stolen so often: according to statistics for Russia for 2010-2011, the Audi brand did not even make it into the top twenty. Our most popular models today are the Audi A3 Sportback, Audi A4, Audi A6, Audi Q3, Audi Q5 and Audi Q7.

In 2001, Audi opened the Quattro Driving School in Russia. This is the first school established by a foreign car manufacturer in Russia. Throughout its existence, the Quattro School has been very popular among our compatriots: for 11 years, more than 16 thousand private and corporate clients have been trained.

Audi was the official sponsor of the Russian national team at the XXX Summer Olympic Games 2012 in London. The concern provided 129 cars as prizes for Russian athletes. The executive A8 models received gold medalists, the silver medalists were given the keys to the A7 Sportback, and the bronze medalists became the owners of the elegant A6. Also, Audi was chosen as the official partner of the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014.

Audi AG is a German automotive company within the Volkswagen Group, specializing in the production of cars under the Audi brand. The headquarters is located in Ingolstadt (Germany).

The history of Audi AG is closely connected with the name of August Horch.

August Horch was born on October 12, 1868 in the village of Winningen, located in the Moselle Valley, into a blacksmith's family. At first he was trained in his father's profession. However, he did not show the abilities necessary for blacksmithing. And then, after several years of wandering, he began his studies at the then-famous technical school in the city of Mitweida. After graduating from a technical school, he qualified as an engineer and worked in various design offices in the cities of Rostock and Leipzig. Of particular interest to him was the use of an internal combustion engine, which at that time was still only a shapeless mechanism.

In 1896, Horch was invited to head the production of motorcycles at Benz & Cie in Mannheim. However, Karl Benz, being a conservative innovator, did not support most of the ideas and proposals for changes in his designs. Dissatisfied with this situation, August Horch decides to organize his own business.

Together with one of the shareholders, he created Horch & Cie in 1899 in Cologne. Along with the provision of services for the repair and equipping of vehicles, since 1901 the company began to establish its own production of cars. However, when the available capital began to dwindle, Horch, with drawings in his suitcase and ideas in his head, set off on a journey through Germany in search of money for his projects.

In Saxony, Horch found an industrialist who was interested in his ideas and was ready to finance them. Then in 1902, Horch moved with all his machines and equipment to Reichenbach, and then in 1904 to Zwickau. In 1909, disagreements arose between the shareholders, and August Horch left the company. But still, his thirst for activity was not broken. With the help of his friend Franz Fikentscher, a respected businessman from Zwickau, he soon founded a new automobile company. The second firm was also named after Horch. But this led to a lawsuit over the rights to the name of the firm. August Horch lost this process. For a young company, a new name had to be found. How to name the company?

Horst Fikentscher (grandson of Horst Fikentscher Franz) says that in his grandfather's living room there were endless debates on this issue: “All possible and impossible proposals arose. In the adjoining room, my grandfather's three high school sons also took part in the search for a name for the firm. My father Heinrich, who was then 10 years old, stunned all adults with a simple solution to a difficult problem: Horen, Horchen (listen, listen) are translated from German into Latin as "audire", and the imperative form "horch!" (listen!) - “audi!” From that day on, everyone called my father only Audi.

It took only a few years for the new Horch cars to gain recognition. For three consecutive years since 1913, the Audi team had won the international route through the Austrian Alps, which was considered at that time the most difficult test test for cars. With the founding of the second company, the innovative phase of Horch's life ended. During the First World War, he took over the organizational functions, and after the war he was invited as an expert on technical issues by many representatives of the German automotive industry.

History of the Four Rings
The Audi symbol - "Four Rings" - is a trademark of one of the oldest car manufacturers in Germany. It symbolizes the union of four previously independent car manufacturers: Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer. They are the roots of the modern AUDI AG.

1910-1920
In early 1909, after a legal dispute with the first Horch-Werke factories, August Horch renamed his second car factory Audi Automobil-Werke. When choosing a new name, Horch, who did not want to completely “concede” his own surname to his rivals, decided to use a pun. The word horch in German means "listen", just like audi in Latin.

In the middle of 1910, the plant launched the first Audi car on the market. This car had a 2.6 liter four-cylinder engine with 22 hp.

1920-1930
In 1920, Audi Automobil-Werke AG introduced a new trademark - Audi. In keeping with the fashionable business style of the time, Lucian Bernhard's flourish replaced the vignetted Audi emblem. Now a new emblem (gold letters on a blue background in an oval) adorned the radiators of Audi cars. When in 1965 the Volkswagen concern acquired 100% of the shares of the Auto Union concern (before that part of them belonged to the Daimler-Benz concern), which also included Audi, the first post-war car bearing the Audi brand was produced. It entered the market with the Auto Union emblem, representing the plexus of four rings, which was caused by the fact that Audi cars from 1949 to 1965 were produced under the Auto Union brand. Also on the right front fender and on the rear of the body there were emblems reminiscent of the first Audi emblem (the font was changed compared to the original version). This emblem was changed with the launch of the NSU production line in 1977. She received a red - brown oval, instead of blue. Since 1982, the branded oval has also adorned the side surfaces of the fenders of cars.

At the end of World War II, all the Saxon factories of Auto Union were destroyed as a result of Allied air strikes, and many employees and management of the concern left the Soviet zone of occupation. All equipment that survived was dismantled and removed. The management of the company, shortly before the end of the war, managed to move to Bavaria. At the end of 1945, an Auto Union spare parts warehouse even appeared in the city of Ingolstadt. But it was still far from full-fledged production. Only on September 3, 1949, the production of motorcycles and delivery trucks resumed. The company was registered in a new way and the company Auto Union GmbH appeared.

1950-1960
The first DKW passenger car after the war. After the founding of Auto Union GmbH in Ingolstadt in September 1949 and the start of production of motorcycles and small batch vehicles in August 1950, the production of the DKW, Auto Union's first post-war passenger car, began in August 1950. Until the end of 1961, DKW passenger cars were manufactured at the production facilities of Rheinmetall-Boersing AG in Düsseldorf.

In April 1958, the stock company Daimler-Benz AG bought 88% of the shares of Auto Union, and a year later bought the company completely. The Ingolstadt firm became its branch. But the popularity of the Volkswagen Käfer model had a negative impact on sales of other small cars and the financial position of the Auto Union concern, and in 1964 the company became part of Volkswagen. In 1965, it was decided to release all new models of the concern that had lost its independence under the Audi brand. The first time after the takeover of Volkswagen did not want Audi to develop its own cars. They were going to produce the Volkswagen Beetle model at the plant's facilities. But Ludwig Kraus, who was then the head of the design department, decided to develop the model secretly from everyone. In the end, they found out about this in Wolfsburg, but they did not interfere. The fruit of this activity was the Audi 100 middle class car, which appeared in 1968.

In 1969, Volkswagenwerk AG merged Auto Union GmbH and NSU Motorenwerke AG from Neckarsulm. The company was named Audi NSU Auto Union AG with headquarters in Neckarsulm. In 1974 a significant event took place. Ferdinand Piëch became the head of the design department.

1970-1980
At the beginning of 1970, a wide export of Audi to the United States of America began. At first, exports to the United States were limited to the Audi Super 90 (sedan and station wagon), as well as the new Audi 100. Since 1973, they were joined by the Audi 80, which, unlike the European version, was also produced in a station wagon. Later, Audi models received their own designations in the US market: Audi 4000 for the Audi 80, Audi 5000 for the Audi 100.

1980-1991
In March 1980, the Audi booth at the Geneva Motor Show became a real sensation with the introduction of a new all-wheel drive sports coupe. For the first time, a passenger car was offered with a drive concept that had hitherto only been used in trucks and SUVs. The idea for such a passenger car arose in the winter of 1976/77. during test runs on the VW Iltis military off-road vehicle being developed. The excellent behavior of this car when driving on ice and snow led to the idea to introduce the all-wheel drive VW Iltis in the production Audi 80. In the same year, development work was carried out, which resulted in the creation of the Audi quattro sports coupe.

The sporty debut of the Audi quattro took place at the beginning of 1981 at the January rally in Austria. The new Audis were out of competition. Until 1985, no one could compete with them. And in 1986, group "b" was closed in which Quattro performed, as the FIA ​​leadership considered these competitions too dangerous. This ended the racing career of this car.

In December 1982, mass production of the Audi quattro was launched - a serial sports coupe with all-wheel drive and outstanding driving characteristics: With a weight of about 1.5 tons, the car had an engine with a power of 200 hp, which allowed it to accelerate to 100 km / h in 7.1 seconds. In 1984, the Audi Sport Quattro became available to customers. It had a body shortened by 300 mm with Kevlar inserts and two engine options - 220 and 306 hp. The latter accelerated the Audi to 100 km / h in 4.9 seconds. The top speed of this car reached 250 km/h. Gradually, the quattro® drive was also offered for other Audi models.

1990-1991
In 1990, Audi AG entered the German Stock Car Championship (DTM) for the first time. This season's winner was Hans-Joachim Stuck, driving an Audi V8. The following year, Frank Biela, driving an Audi of the same model, was able to successfully defend the championship title.

Audi with V6 engine
In December 1990, the new Audi 100 (internal designation C4) was introduced, which for the first time in the history of the concern was also offered with a six-cylinder V-engine. The powerful (174 hp) power unit with a displacement of 2.8 liters was the most compact and lightest in its class. It had a new fuel injection system that provided the required high tractive effort at low revs and high power in the upper rev range.

1990-2000
At the Geneva Motor Show in March 1990, Audi AG presented the Audi duo, the production Audi 100 Avant quattro, in which, in addition to the conventional gasoline engine, an electric motor was also installed with a rear axle drive. If necessary, the drive could be switched from a gasoline engine to an electric one. This hybrid vehicle has been developed, among other things, for use in public utilities.

In 1993, the Audi Group was formed, which eventually included the Hungarian and Brazilian divisions, the British Cosworth Technology and the Italian Automobili Lamborghini and the Spanish SEAT were absorbed. The company is developing dynamically in most of the auto directions that exist today. These are the business segment (A6), executive (A8), sports and racing cars (Audi TT, sports versions of A4, R8 supercar), as well as Q7, Q5 and Q3 crossovers.

2005 Audi hybrid
On September 12, 2005, at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt (Germany), Audi AG presented its new brainchild - the Audi Q7 hybrid SUV. The uniqueness of this car lies in the fact that it is equipped with two high-tech engines. Simultaneously with the 4.2-litre FSI V8 petrol engine, the Audi Q7 hybrid is equipped with the latest electric motor, which increases the torque specifications by 200 Newton-nA-meter and power output by 32 kW (44 hp).
It is hard to believe that with all this, the technical data of the car can reduce fuel consumption by an average of 13%. Optimization of energy efficiency is achieved through Audi's innovation - intelligent energy management. In addition, the integrated quattro technology provides the SUV with impeccable performance when driving in various road conditions.

2008 - Double victory for Audi all-wheel drive models
Two Audi all-wheel drive models won the 4-4 of the Year 2008 competition organized by the German magazine AUTO BILD ALLRAD. In the 25,000 to 40,000 euro car category, the new Audi A4 quattro won, and the Audi R8 in the all-wheel drive coupé and sports car category. Following the G8, the second place was taken by the Audi A5 quattro.

Among other models from the German automaker, the Audi A6 quattro and Audi A8 quattro took second and third place in the "over 40,000 euros" category. The prizes were awarded to the winners at the international exhibition Auto Mobil International (AMI) in Leipzig.

The VW-Kaluga plant was built in November 2007 (Technopark Grabtsevo, Kaluga). In addition to Audi models, the production of VW and Skoda cars was launched at this enterprise.

German brand Audi was founded in 1909. But the history of this auto giant began in the 19th century, more precisely in November 1899, when August Horch founded the A.Horch company. In 1909, Horch left A.Horch and founded another brand of his own - Audi. In 1958, Daimler-Benz AG acquired a controlling interest in Auto Union (which included Audi), but then sold it to Volkswagen. Currently, the Audi brand is widely known. Company profile - release expensive cars executive class. Despite the fact that this company is a subsidiary of VW, Audi has long been on a par with such giants of the executive segment as Mercedes and BMW.

The whole history of Audi

After disagreements with the board of directors of A.Horch, August Horch in 1909 left the factory he had created and created another brand - Audi Automobil-Werke. The first Audi car appeared in 1910 and had a 2.6 liter 4-cylinder engine with 22 hp. August Horch's persistence in entering various competitions was rewarded in 1911 when his Audi B with a 2.6-liter engine went the whole distance without penalty points in the Alps Cup race in Austria. In 1932, 4 German firms DKW, Audi, Horch and Wanderer merged into the automobile concern Auto Union. This is how the famous four rings appeared. The first collaboration for Audi was the front-wheel drive Front series with a 6-cylinder OHV Wanderer engine of 2257 cm3, followed by the rear-wheel drive Audi 920 with a 6-cylinder Horch engine of 3281 cm3. After the war, the territory of Germany, where the city of Zwickau was located, became part of the GDR. The former Audi plant was nationalized and produced at least famous cars Trabant. The Audi brand temporarily disappeared, as after the war Auto Union only produced DKW cars. Only in 1957 did a single model appear called Auto Union 1000. The following year, Auto Union came under the control of Daimler Benz, and in 1964, when the transition to the production of front wheel drive vehicles became the property of the Volkswagen Group. In 1965, the Audi brand was revived. At the Frankfurt Motor Show, a front-wheel drive Audi 1700 was shown with a highly economical Daimler Benz engine with a compression ratio of 11.2 and a power of 72 hp. In 1969, Auto Union and NSU merged - the new company became known as NSU Auto Union. The last organizational change came in 1984 when NSU Auto Union was renamed simply Audi. After 1965, the Audi model family began to expand - by the beginning of the 70s, the 60, 75, 80 and 100 series appeared. Created in 1980, the quattro all-wheel drive modifications have repeatedly achieved success in international rallies, which has brought high prestige to the Audi brand. Audi's all-wheel-drive passenger car was pioneered by engineer Ferdinand Piech, who considered the process as natural as moving from rear-wheel brakes to all-wheel brakes. The appearance of mass all-wheel drive Audi is considered a revolutionary stage in the development of the automotive industry. The basis for all-wheel drive modifications were standard cars with front-wheel drive. In the block with the gearbox, a transfer case with a differential was installed, which distributed the torque almost equally on both axles. At first, there was also a mechanism for turning on or off. rear wheel drive. The first all-wheel drive Audis were designed primarily for sports competitions, where the reliability of new designs could be tested. They were powerful 5-cylinder turbocharged engines. Under the influence of all-wheel drive Audi, a new direction was laid in the creation of mass-produced cars for both sports and normal use.

This is now worldwide well-known firm was born in 1910 by court order. The case was indicted August Horch (August Horch) by his former colleagues from the company Horch. As a result of disagreements with partners, the wayward Horch was forced to leave own company, founded by him in the city of Zwickau in eastern Germany in 1899. Some time later, he created a new company in the same city, naturally giving it his name. For a short time there were two companies with the same name in one small town: by a court decision, the second one was given a new name audi, which in Latin means the same as Horch in German - " listen».

First Audi was equipped with a 4-cylinder engine of 2612 cm 3, similar to Horch's previous designs, which he created for the company Horch. But soon it was followed by new engines with a working volume of 3562, 4680 and 5720 cm 3. All had the so-called symmetrical valves: the intake was at the bottom, and the exhaust was strictly above it "upside down".
The persistence with which August Horch exhibited his cars in various competitions was only rewarded in 1911, when he Audi V with a 2.6-liter engine in the Alps Cup race in Austria, he completed the entire distance without penalty points. Taking into account all the shortcomings of the "B" series, a new model was developed in 1913 audi c, equipped with a 4-cylinder 3.5-liter engine, in which the crankshaft rotated on three bearings and was slightly shifted to the side from the cylinder axes. A conventional cone clutch had a leather friction surface. The wooden body on a chassis with a 2900 or 3200 mm wheelbase was open with an elongated and pointed rear, which, according to its creators, provided better streamlining and gave a swift appearance. In the years 1912-1914, this car achieved serious success in the competition for the Alpine Cup. Therefore he is known as Alpensieger- Conqueror of the Alps.

Before the war, another small car of the type was created "8/28" with an engine of 2071 cm 3, which continued to be produced even after the establishment of peace. But the most popular in the 20s was the 50-horsepower "Audi-K" with an overhead valve engine of 3.5 liters. The first 6-cylinder was "Audi-M", released in 1924. Its working volume was 4655 cm 3, and the camshaft was moved up for the first time. The crankshaft had 7 bearings, and the cylinder block was made of aluminum alloy, although the cylinder liners remained steel. The overhead camshaft acted directly on the valve stems. The brakes of all wheels were supplied vacuum booster. The maximum speed of the car reached 120 km / h.
First 8 cylinder engine in 4872 cm 3 appeared in 1928 on the car of the "R" series, which received the big name Imperator. It turned out to be the last own design audi, which was soon taken over by another car company DCW.

Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen (Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen), founder DKW, decided not to create for the new scale Audi own engines, and purchased from the bankrupt American company Rickenbacker all its equipment and developments. next models Audi appeared in 1929. These were 6-cylinder Dresden and 8-cylinder Zwickau. In 1931 in gamma Audi light model entered "R" on chassis DKW with a 4-cylinder Peugeot engine of 1122 cm 3.
In 1932, 4 German firms DKW, Audi, Horch and Wanderer merged into a car company Auto union. The first result of the joint work for Audi became a front-wheel drive series Front with a 6-cylinder overhead valve Wanderer engine in 2257 cm 3, followed by a rear-wheel drive Audi 920 with a 6-cylinder Horch engine in 3281 cm 3.

The front-wheel drive Audi Front has become a "collective product" of all Auto Union firms: the idea of ​​front-wheel drive for mass-produced cars belonged to the founder DKW Rasmussen, his 6-cylinder engine was developed on Wanderer and released on Horch, a finished car bore the mark Audi. Despite the difficulties of mastering the new design, the car proved itself well and was produced until 1938. The front suspension was wishbone and transverse leaf spring, and in many ways resembled the Alvis design. Unlike most front-wheel-drive small cars, the Front belonged to the middle class. The cars were equipped with various multi-seat bodies and developed a speed of over 105 km / h. In 1937, an elegant three-seat sports version of the Front was presented at the Berlin Motor Show.

After the war, the territory of Germany, where the city of Zwickau was located, became part of the GDR. Former factory Audi was nationalized and no less famous cars were produced on it Trabant. Brand Audi temporarily disappeared, since after the war the company Auto Union only made cars DCW. Only in 1957 did a single model appear called Auto Union 1000. Next year Auto Union passed under the control of Daimler Benz, and in 1964, when the transition to the production of front-wheel drive cars began to be planned, it became the property of the Volkswagen concern. In 1965 the stamp Audi revived. The front-wheel drive was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show Audi 1700 with a highly economical Daimler Benz engine with a compression ratio of 11.2 and a power of 72 hp.
In 1969, Auto Union and NSU merged - the new company became known as NSU Auto Union. The last organizational change came in 1984 when NSU Auto Union was renamed to simply Audi.
Curious things have happened throughout the firm's 104-year history. So, after its takeover by the Volkswagen concern in the mid-60s, the brand almost disappeared altogether: all the potential Audi decided to throw on mass production "Zhukov". And only the successful development of our own model - secretly from the management of the concern - allowed us to preserve the originality Audi.

We are ours, we will build a new brand.

The latest period in the history of the company covers the last quarter of a century. After joining Volkswagen for many years Audi was perceived in Germany as an ordinary folk brand. This continued until the early 80s, when cars with four rings on the radiator again began to stand out with innovative solutions. All-wheel drive modifications created in 1980 Quattro repeatedly achieved success in international rallies, which brought the brand Audi high prestige.
The initiator of the production of all-wheel drive cars Audi was an engineer Ferdinand Piech (Ferdinand Piech), who considered this process as natural as the transition from installing brakes only on the rear wheels to brakes on all wheels. The appearance of mass all-wheel drive Audi is considered a revolutionary stage in the development of the automotive industry. The basis for all-wheel drive modifications were standard cars with front-wheel drive. In the block with the gearbox, a transfer case with a differential was installed, which distributed the torque almost equally on both axles. In the same place, at first, there was a mechanism for turning on or off the rear-wheel drive. The first all-wheel drive Audi were designed primarily for sports competitions, where it would be possible to test the reliability of new designs. They were powerful 5-cylinder turbocharged engines. Influenced by all-wheel drive Audi a new direction was laid in the creation of mass-produced cars both for sports and for normal use.

Since then, the creation of a new brand image has begun, which became even more relevant by the beginning of the 90s - the fall of the European market forced Volkswagen management to reconsider their business approaches. Three options were considered: leave the brand Audi in the mass segment, simply transfer it to the "premium" segment, or aim at the "premium-progressive". We chose the latter and started building our own marketing strategy Audi - after all, until then the brand did not even have its own salons, cars were sold along with Volkswagen models. Moreover, until 1994, the brand's lineup amazed everyone with its scarcity: it had only two cars - Audi 80 and audi 100, which caused obvious dissatisfaction of customers and criticism of specialists.
Today's brand image rests on four principles: the use of high technology, emotionality, sportiness and global claims. Each performs a specific task, and all together pursue the main goal: in the next five to six years, at least double sales, catch up in terms of global sales and perception with the main competitors - BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
However, at headquarters Audi AG these principles are also called tools with the help of which quite specific tasks of capturing markets are solved. So, the company was the first to make all-wheel drive in a sedan, and this attracted new customers: if in 1995 about 50 thousand of such models were sold, then in 2002 - four times more. Almost seven years Audi was the only one who used direct fuel injection on the diesel engines. This allowed to reduce the noise of the engine, increased environmental friendliness and speed of cars. As a result, the sales of such machines grew from 100,000 to 300,000 a year in the same seven years. And the production of large series of cars with aluminum bodies generally influenced the development of the entire global automotive industry.

They relied on the emotionality of the brand when they were moving away from the image of a mass machine. " In the segment « premium» the atmosphere surrounding the client is very important, says Head of Global Communications Strategies Audi AG Graham Liesl. - By purchasing an expensive model, a person first of all buys emotions. He wants to feel the exclusivity of the car and the attitude towards himself, so everything needs to be done at the highest level.". First of all, the product itself must correspond to this level: its quality, technical characteristics, design. How seriously the company takes this can be judged by today's development of the lineup. Since 1995, one or two new models began to appear annually. Starting with A4, the Germans issued for three years A3 and A4 Avant, A6 business model, A6 Avant station wagon and TT Coupe. In the next four years, the market appeared TT Roadster and all-terrain Audi allroad quattro, compact A2 and already new A4, A8 limousine and new A4 Avant, A4 convertible and second generation A8. Finally, in 2003, there was a new version models A3 and three completely innovative concepts - Pikes Peak, Nuvolari and Le Mans, submitted between January and September. Such a "rate of fire" is especially impressive, given that the creation of each model takes about five years and up to two billion euros.

Following the general concept of the brand, the company endows all new sporty character. This translates into excellent dynamic performance, powerful engines, pendants, in the form of cars and interior design. Moreover, in addition to the basic models, sports modifications with the S index and supersport RS are produced. RS6, for example, it is impressive: its 450 horsepower literally provokes rapid throws and lane changes, and on the autobahn, only an electronic speed limiter did not allow it to jump beyond the mark of 250 km / h. But the marketing policy requires even more aggressive fueling of the sports spirit, and Audi actively sponsors competitions in skiing, golf, sailing, supports two famous football clubs in Europe. All this works on the fourth postulate of the company, which sounds like this: Audi is one of the largest players in the global market. To do this, dealer networks are expanding in various regions of the world, joint ventures are being created to work in the promising Chinese market, and the share in Europe is expanding, where the German brand now owns 3.6% of the market. Jurgen De Graeve, a business and finance specialist, tried to explain the general level of the company's claims with a specific example: “ In the US we sell eighty-five thousand cars a year, and BMWs a quarter of a million. We intend to equalize our sales figures first, and then drive out competitors.».

Every motorist knows Audi. She received thanks to her consistent quality and original design, whose admirers are located all over the world. The history of Audi went through many difficult stages that made the company what we know it today.

How it all started

Audi is a German company that manufactures passenger cars. The main office of the company is located in the village of Ingolstadt. The centennial history of the name and brand started in 1910, from the time when August Horch decided to register a company, the name of which he took from his last name. Horch means "to hear", which is translated from Latin. At that time, the entrepreneur was already in the position of an auctioneer in a large company, but quickly left it for personal reasons. This was the impetus to start his own business.

August's work has not always had. In 1909, he created a 6-cylinder engine, which immediately failed in sales. This greatly crippled the company, which is why it almost went bankrupt. For this reason, the engineer was quickly fired, but not far away he quickly founded a new company called Horch.

Learn at a glance

Any self-respecting car enthusiast will recognize the Audi logo without error. The history of the emblem was formed around four companies that were united into a single force. Among them were Audi Werke, DKW, August Horch Automobil Werke and Wanderer. The grand merger happened in 1934.

As the history of the badge says, at first it was installed only in racing format cars, and individual design was created for production models. This was later changed, which only attracted potential buyers.

First ideas and steps

The object of the company's enterprises was the construction of machines. Well-known engineers were hired to create original models. Already in the first year of its activity, the Audi-A car was designed. How this model was invented is still unknown to anyone.

Work recognition

Soon, several more models were released, which immediately received recognition from motorists. Germany appreciated the merits of the new brand. So, in 1911 there were big competitions in Austria. The history of the brand remembered this year as the victory of its Audi-B model. Since then, special attention has been focused on subsequent flagships, which have gotten better each time.

1912 became famous with the release of the Audi-C. A test drive for her came at the Alpine races, where she showed quite good results, for which she was given the name "Alpenziger".

The main success of the brand occurred in the 20s, when the company acquired Audi-M and no less famous Audi-K for sale. The first stood out with a capacious engine of 4.7 liters for 6 cylinders, and the second had 2.1 liters for the engine. This made it popular among ordinary car users. But the Audi-M also managed to become one of the fastest cars of that time, because it covered 120 kilometers in 1 hour. This was consistent with the price, which was at the level of branded models.

Problem solving

Success ended in the same 20s, when Audi was threatened with bankruptcy. To solve this problem, management decided to merge with another firm. Thus, in 1928, the DKW company acquired the company's capacities, replacing the main owner with Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen.

When the big economic crisis happened in 1932, it was decided by Auto Union. His task was to combine the well-known and powerful brands Wanderer and DKW, as well as former competitors Audi and Horch. The result of their work was the release of two models, whose work was based on the engine from Wanderer. As the history of Audi testifies, sales seemed quite good.

New format

With the onset of World War II, all partner companies were nationalized. They became one division that was engaged in the production of cars. So in 1949, the company increased its scale thanks to the capacities of Mercedes-Benz. Daimler-Benz AG doubled its efficiency when it acquired shares in Auto Union in 1958 by selling them to Volkswagen. But they decided to keep the name, so the company continued to bear the name Audi.

After a short break in 1968, the company released a front-wheel drive car, which gave good results. With the advent of the Audi Quattro, the company has a good chance to qualify for the sports class. This car took a big leap forward, making it one of the best alternatives yet again. The car was light enough and had excellent protection. Transport fully met the requirements for high-speed rallies, so it was able to compete with other manufacturers.

Change of leadership

In 1969 Neckarsulmer Automobilwerke bought the major shares of Volkswagen, which included Audi. The history of the company's creation indicates that at one time the company had the name Audi NSU Auto Union, but in 1985 it returned to the classic Audi AG.

The strategy of the renewed firm was to organize sales to the United States. It happened in 1970, and the first car that went to another continent was the Audi Super 90. This station wagon immediately got support from users. Later, their ranks were replenished with the Audi 80 model, which had slightly improved characteristics for buyers in the USA. After that, the real models received their designation in this market - Audi 80 and Audi 4000, respectively.

Back to start

In the 80s, some irregularities in the company's work were discovered, so its sales level fell sharply in the US regions. The year 1980 was remembered for the introduction to the market of a big novelty in the form of an all-wheel drive sports class coupe. Previously, a similar model was the Audi quattro, which used a truck drive system.

The creation of this model was indicated in 1977, when, during tests by the Bundeswehr, the flagship VW Iltis attracted everyone's attention. It had excellent driving qualities on ice and snow, so it was decided to implement such a system in Audi 80 cars. This model received a reinforced version with a 5-cylinder and 2.2-liter turbo engine, which produced 147 kW, or 200 horsepower.

More news

The history of the company remembers the introduction of machines with all-wheel drive into mass production. Later, the quattro concept was also offered with other Audi flagships. On the basis of this car, the Audi Coupe sports class coupe was launched, which appeared in 1993. Later it was decided to use the original body, which would complement the lineup. This vehicle remained one of the best of its kind for a long time until it was withdrawn from sale in 2000. In general, the total number of manufactured units amounted to 72 thousand.

One of the models that the history of the brand remembered was the Audi 100. Its feature was the use of a six-cylinder V-type engine. This unit is considered the lightest among the model line. But the Audi A4 saw its buyer in 1994. In the same year, the company created the RS2 Avant, a five-seat car with a 315-horsepower fuel-injected turbo engine.

A little later, the famous Golf IV platform laid the foundation for the flagship Audi A3. It was shown in 1996, receiving a lot of positive reviews. A year later, its mass production began. A year later, the presentation of the new flagships took place in Frankfurt am Main. The flagship Audi S4/S4 Avante/RS4 was a striking modification for the "sport" segment at that time. He used a 2.7 V6 biturbo engine for his work, which was able to produce 380 hp. With.

New generation

The history of the concern saw a universal body for the new flagships in 1998. In order to focus on the development and production of such vehicles, it was decided to discontinue the production of the C4 series. Since the company began the production of fundamentally new machines in a short period of time, this was the beginning of the release of a new class B family.

But 1998 was also remembered for the premiere of the Audi TT, which had a coupe-type body. He was seen in Geneva, positively accepting the novelty. A year later, the same fate befell the roadster, which was shown in Frankfurt am Main. In 1999, the Audi A3 sports model was modified, which received a turbocharged engine and an all-wheel drive transmission. The Audi S8 is an analogue of the famous racing car, but it has a 4.2 V8 engine using all-wheel drive.

Views are changing

The year 2000 began for Audi with the premiere of the flagship Audi Allroad, which was based on the A6 Avant. In 2001, a transport with a folding roof was produced, which later began to be assembled at the facilities of Karmann.

Today, the company's facilities are located in different countries, not only in Germany. The company annually tries to increase its scale and capacity. The model range made it possible to satisfy the wishes of each customer, and even fans of powerful cars could choose the Audi Q7 SUV for themselves.

Among the unusual novelties, one can single out the models of the 2000s, which attracted buyers from Asian countries. Production is trying each time to create an increasingly simple and powerful development, which attracts new markets. Such modern views allow you to get more profit and strengthen your position in sales.

A special look at the Audi-M

This model received special attention from the company, because for the first time the emblem "Audi - unit against the background of the globe" was installed on it. For work, a classic six-cylinder engine with a volume of up to 4700 cubic meters was already used. see Power of 70 liters. With. created comfort during the trip. Among the changes, a camshaft was noticed, which it was decided to move up.

The technical side involved the use of aluminum for the cylinder block. Also, the designers took care of the safety of the driver, due to which the braking system was distributed immediately to four wheels. The highest speed that the flagship could reach was 120 km / h.

How did the Audi 100

This model was widely shown to customers in 1990. She was also known as C4. It was for her that the six-cylinder V-shaped engine was first released. It is small in size, but the power of 174 horsepower was one of the best in its price range.

History of the Audi A4

Among the cars of the Audi brand in the middle class, the A4 model deserves special attention. Thanks to the use of rear and front-wheel drive, control is improved, so in 1994 active series production began. The company has introduced a new case design, which qualitatively distinguished the flagship among analogues.

Today, the Audi brand is an integral part of the Volkswagen concern. It is at the stage of rise and growth, as the company has a long history of high quality indicators. This creates successful sales for her, thanks to which there is a constant development.

If you want to buy a quality and affordable car, the Audi brand is an excellent choice. Throughout the history of the company, it has been actively working to improve its models and introduce new technologies. This made it possible to obtain a decent quality.

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