The Audi R8R was a Le Mans Prototype built by Audi for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans , and a predecessor to the dominant Audi R8 which debuted in 2000. It was raced alongside the British built closed-cockpit Audi R8C .
105-441: The R8R project began in 1997, when Audi began research into entering the 24 Hours of Le Mans . The first prototype was displayed in 1998, showing an open cockpit car which featured many Audi styling cues, yet lacked some of the practical necessities for sports car racing . The car, designed by Michael Pfadenhauer and Wolfgang Appel and built by Dallara , featured an Audi 3.6-litre twin-turbo V8 engine . Styling features included
210-461: A 2,612 cc inline-four engine model Type A, followed by a 3,564 cc model, as well as 4,680 cc and 5,720 cc models. These cars were successful even in sporting events. The first six-cylinder model Type M, 4,655 cc appeared in 1924. August Horch left the Audiwerke in 1920 for a high position at the ministry of transport, but he was still involved with Audi as a member of
315-453: A BMW 7 Series (G11) special edition simply called "The Final V12", the last BMW series production vehicle to be fitted with a V-12 engine. On 5 October 2023 it was announced that BMW UK CEO Chris Brownridge would succeed Torsten Müller-Ötvös as the CEO of Rolls-Royce starting 1 December 2023, as a result of Müller-Ötvös retiring. BMW is an abbreviation for Bayerische Motoren Werke . This name
420-464: A branch of Audi AG. Another company, NSU, which also later merged into Audi, was founded during this time, and later supplied the chassis for Gottlieb Daimler 's four-wheeler. On 14 November 1899, August Horch (1868–1951) established the company A. Horch & Cie. in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne . In 1902, he moved with his company to Reichenbach im Vogtland . On 10 May 1904, he founded
525-543: A built-in balance shaft, an increased capacity to 1,170 cc (71 cu in) and enhanced performance to 75 kW (101 hp) for the R1200GS , compared to 63 kW (84 hp) of the previous R1150GS . More powerful variants of the oilhead engines are available in the R1100S and R1200S, producing 73 and 91 kW (98 and 122 hp), respectively. In 2004, BMW introduced the new K1200S Sports Bike which marked
630-400: A centre differential . Commonly referred to as the "Ur-Quattro" (the " Ur- " prefix is a German augmentative used, in this case, to mean 'original' and is also applied to the first generation of Audi's S4 and S6 Sport Saloons, as in "UrS4" and "UrS6"), few of these vehicles were produced (all hand-built by a single team), but the model was a great success in rallying. Prominent wins proved
735-532: A corner of the room. Several times he looked like he was on the verge of saying something but would just swallow his words and continue working, until he finally blurted out, "Father – audiatur et altera pars ... wouldn't it be a good idea to call it audi instead of horch ?". Horch in German means 'hark' or 'hear', which is audi in the singular imperative form of audire —'to listen'—in Latin. The idea
840-498: A departure for BMW. It had an engine producing 125 kW (168 hp), derived from the company's work with the Williams F1 team, and is lighter than previous K models. Innovations include electronically adjustable front and rear suspension, and a Hossack-type front fork that BMW calls Duolever. BMW introduced anti-lock brakes on production motorcycles starting in the late 1980s. The generation of anti-lock brakes available on
945-654: A device requiring the driver to press the brake pedal before shifting out of park. A legacy of the Audi 5000 and other reported cases of sudden unintended acceleration are intricate gear stick patterns and brake interlock mechanisms to prevent inadvertent shifting into forward or reverse. It is unclear how the defects in the idle-stabilization system were addressed. Audi's U.S. sales, which had reached 74,061 in 1985, dropped to 12,283 in 1991 and remained level for three years, —with resale values falling dramatically. Audi subsequently offered increased warranty protection and renamed
1050-444: A large group of aerodynamic vents in the nose, as well as high sidepods which featured NACA ducts on their tops to feed the turbochargers. A large vent on the side also allowed air out from the front wheel well. By the car's debut at the 1999 12 Hours of Sebring , the aerodynamics were evolved. A longer tail was prominent, with the wheel arches more subtly curved into the side pods, instead of an abrupt hard-edge design. The front end
1155-524: A podium. They were beaten by a single BMW yet again, as well as one of the Toyota GT-Ones . Following the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi had to decide which of the two prototypes they'd continue to work on into 2000. The R8Cs, which failed to finish at Le Mans and showed a lack of pace in comparison to the R8Rs, were scrapped. The R8R would be further evolved into an all-new prototype known simply as
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#17328025078011260-409: A problem when the brake pedal was pushed. Subsequent investigation revealed that 60 Minutes had engineered the failure—fitting a canister of compressed air on the passenger-side floor, linked via a hose to a hole drilled into the transmission. Audi contended, prior to findings by outside investigators, that the problems were caused by driver error, specifically pedal misapplication. Subsequently,
1365-535: A state of the art factory for Auto Union's, the company's aging model range at this time did not benefit from the economic boom of the early 1960s to the same extent as competitor manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Opel . The decision to dispose of the Auto Union business was based on its lack of profitability. Ironically, by the time they sold the business, it also included a large new factory and near production-ready modern four-stroke engine, which would enable
1470-585: A study of their wartime activities. The investigation found that the company worked with the SS to build seven labor camps where more than 3,700 prisoners were put to work for Auto Union. In addition, 16,500 more people were forced to work at the company's factories in Zwickau and Chemnitz , and another 18,000 at an underground plant in Bavaria where 4,500 people died. Some of the company's factories were bombed by
1575-501: A subsidiary responsible for development and production of Audi high-performance models: the R8 and the RS model range. The new merged company was incorporated on 1 January 1969 and was known as Audi NSU Auto Union AG , with its headquarters at NSU's Neckarsulm plant, and saw the emergence of Audi as a separate brand for the first time since the pre-war era. Volkswagen introduced the Audi brand to
1680-603: A template for VW's new front-wheel-drive water-cooled range which debuted from the mid-1970s onward. In 1969, Auto Union merged with NSU , based in Neckarsulm , near Stuttgart . In the 1950s, NSU had been the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles, but had moved on to produce small cars like the NSU Prinz , the TT and TTS versions of which are still popular as vintage race cars. NSU then focused on new rotary engines based on
1785-449: A type of electronic throttle control . Significantly: multiple "intermittent malfunctions of the electronic control unit were observed and recorded ... and [were also observed and] reported by Transport Canada." With a series of recall campaigns, Audi made several modifications; the first adjusted the distance between the brake and accelerator pedal on automatic-transmission models. Later repairs, of 250,000 cars dating back to 1978, added
1890-624: Is a German multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich , Bavaria , Germany. The company was founded in 1916 as a manufacturer of aircraft engines , which it produced from 1917 to 1918 and again from 1933 to 1945 creating engines for aircraft that were used in the Second World War . The companies automobiles are marketed under the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, and motorcycles are marketed under
1995-500: Is a futuristic cauldron-shaped building, which was also designed by Karl Schwanzer and opened in 1972. The interior has a spiral theme and the roof is a 40-metre diameter BMW logo. BMW Welt , the company's exhibition space in Munich, was designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au and opened in 2007. It includes a showroom and lifting platforms where a customer's new car is theatrically unveiled to the customer. In 1975, sculptor Alexander Calder
2100-483: Is estimated to boast around 610 hp (450 kW) from its V8 engine, allowing it to hit 335 km/h (208 mph) in 1999 at Le Mans (the original claims were that the car could go 350 km/h (217 mph)). Audi Audi AG ( German: [ˈaʊ̯di ʔaːˈɡeː] ) is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt , Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of
2205-636: Is grammatically incorrect (in German, compound words must not contain spaces), which is why the grammatically correct form of the name, Bayerische Motorenwerke ( German pronunciation: [ˈbaɪʁɪʃə moˈtoːʁənˌvɛʁkə] ) has been used in several publications and advertisements in the past. Bayerische Motorenwerke translates into English as Bavarian Motor Works . The suffix AG, short for Aktiengesellschaft , signifies an incorporated entity owned by shareholders, thus akin to "Inc." (US) or PLC, "Public Limited Company" (UK). The terms Beemer, Bimmer and Bee-em are sometimes used as slang for BMW in
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#17328025078012310-412: Is now known as BMW Motorrad . Their first successful motorcycle after the failed Helios and Flink, was the " R32 " in 1923, though production originally began in 1921. This had a " boxer " twin engine, in which a cylinder projects into the air-flow from each side of the machine. Apart from their single-cylinder models (basically to the same pattern), all their motorcycles used this distinctive layout until
2415-677: The BMW R 32 , in 1923. BMW became an automobile manufacturer in 1928 when it purchased Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which, at the time, built the Austin 7 under licence from Dixi . The first car sold as a BMW was a rebadged BMW Dixi called the BMW 3/15 , following BMW's acquisition of the car manufacturer Automobilwerk Eisenach. Throughout the 1930s, BMW expanded its range into sports cars and larger luxury cars. Aircraft engines, motorcycles, and automobiles would be BMW's main products until World War II. During
2520-411: The 12 Hours of Sebring in 1999 . Run by Joest Racing of Germany, the R8Rs showed some initial difficulties in qualifying, managing to set merely the 11th and 12th fastest times. However, during the race, the cars showed their durability by being able to outlast most of the competitors who had initially outpaced them. Even though the also new BMW V12 LMR suffered some problems, one of their entries
2625-591: The 225xe using a 1.5 L three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor, the 330e / 530e using a 2.0 L four-cylinder engine with an electric motor, and the 550e / 750e using a 3.0 L six-cylinder engine with an electric motor. Also, crossover and SUV plug-in hybrid models have been released using i technology: X1 xDrive25e , X2 xDrive25e , X3 xDrive30e , and X5 xDrive40e . The BMW M GmbH subsidiary (called BMW Motorsport GmbH until 1993) started making high-performance versions of various BMW models in 1978. As of November 2024 ,
2730-710: The Audi A4 replaced the Audi 80 . The new nomenclature scheme was applied to the Audi 100 to become the Audi A6 (with a minor facelift). This also meant the S4 became the S6 and a new S4 was introduced in the A4 body. The S2 was discontinued. The Audi Cabriolet continued on (based on the Audi 80 platform) until 1999, gaining the engine upgrades along the way. A new A3 hatchback model (sharing
2835-715: The Audi R8 , sharing nothing mechanical or stylistic from the R8 except for the engine. However, although the R8 made its debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2000, the car was returned to Europe by Audi to conduct more testing for that year's Le Mans. This left the older R8R to return to the American Le Mans Series to compete in the next two rounds of the season , the Grand Prix of Charlotte and Silverstone 500 . At Charlotte , R8R managed to 6th place behind
2940-690: The August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG , a joint-stock company in Zwickau (State of Saxony ). After troubles with Horch chief financial officer, August Horch left Motorwagenwerke and founded in Zwickau on 16 July 1909, his second company, the August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH . His former partners sued him for trademark infringement. The German Reichsgericht (Supreme Court) in Leipzig , eventually determined that
3045-624: The BMW M3 in 1986. Also in 1986, BMW introduced its first V12 engine in the 750i luxury sedan. The 1989 BMW Z1 marked BMW's return to making a two-seat roadster, the 1995 BMW Z3 was their first mass-production two-seat roadster, and the 1999 BMW X5 was the company's first entry into the SUV market. The company purchased the Rover Group in 1994, but the takeover was not successful and caused BMW large financial losses. In 2000, BMW sold off most of
3150-667: The BMW Motorrad brand. Also in 2023, BMW was the world's ninth-largest producer of motor vehicles , with 2,555,341 vehicles produced and in 2023 the 6th largest by revenue. In 2023, the company was ranked 46th in the Forbes Global 2000 . The company has significant motor-sport history, especially in touring cars , sports cars , and the Isle of Man TT . BMW is headquartered in Munich and produces motor vehicles in Germany,
3255-481: The K Series , shaft drive but water-cooled and with either three or four cylinders mounted in a straight line from front to back. Shortly after, BMW also started making the chain-driven F and G series with single and parallel twin Rotax engines. In the early 1990s, BMW updated the airhead Boxer engine which became known as the oilhead . In 2002, the oilhead engine had two spark plugs per cylinder. In 2004 it added
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3360-610: The Kingdom of Bavaria , which was a state of the German Empire . The firm was reorganized on 7 March 1916 into Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG . This company was then renamed to Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) in 1922. However, the name BMW dates back to 1913, when a company to use the name was founded by Karl Rapp initially as Rapp Motorenwerke . The name and Rapp Motorenwerke 's engine-production assets were transferred to Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in 1922, who adopted
3465-561: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded that the majority of unintended acceleration cases, including all the ones that prompted the 60 Minutes report, were caused by driver error such as confusion of pedals. CBS did not acknowledge the test results of involved government agencies, but did acknowledge the similar results of another study. In a review study published in 2012, NHTSA summarized its past findings about
3570-470: The Volkswagen Golf Mk4 's platform) was introduced to the range in 1996, and the radical Audi TT coupé and roadster were debuted in 1998 based on the same underpinnings. The petrol engines available throughout the range were now a 1.4 L, 1.6 L and 1.8 L four-cylinder, 1.8 L four-cylinder turbo, 2.6 L and 2.8 L V6 , 2.2 L turbo-charged five-cylinder and
3675-490: The Volkswagen Group , Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the company are complex, dating back to the early 20th century and the initial enterprises ( Horch and the Audiwerke ) founded by engineer August Horch . Two other manufacturers ( DKW and Wanderer ) also contributed to the foundation of Auto Union in 1932. The modern Audi era began in the 1960s, when Auto Union
3780-619: The Volkswagen Polo ) in 1974. The Audi 50 was a seminal design because it was the first incarnation of the Golf/Polo concept, one that led to a hugely successful world car. Ultimately, the Audi 80 and 100 (progenitors of the A4 and A6 , respectively) became the company's biggest sellers, whilst little investment was made in the fading NSU range; the Prinz models were dropped in 1973 whilst
3885-644: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ’s Madrid Yearly Review ranked BMW's number of marks applications filled under the Madrid System as 2nd in the world, with 124 trademarks applications submitted during 2023. The key trends of the BMW Group are (as at the financial year ending December 31): BMW began production of motorcycle engines and then motorcycles after World War I. Its motorcycle brand
3990-448: The X Series SUVs and crossovers are: The current model line of the Z Series two-door roadsters is the Z4 (model code G29 ). All-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles are sold under the BMW i sub-brand. The current model range consists of: In addition, several plug-in hybrid models built on existing platforms have been marketed as iPerformance models. Examples include
4095-468: The 1960s, BMW expanded its range by adding coupé and luxury sedan models. The BMW 5 Series mid-size sedan range was introduced in 1972, followed by the BMW 3 Series compact sedans in 1975, the BMW 6 Series luxury coupés in 1976 and the BMW 7 Series large luxury sedans in 1978. The BMW M division released its first road car, a mid-engine supercar, in 1978. This was followed by the BMW M5 in 1984 and
4200-443: The 2006 and later BMW motorcycles paved the way for the introduction of electronic stability control , or anti-skid technology later in the 2007 model year. BMW has been an innovator in motorcycle suspension design, taking up telescopic front suspension long before most other manufacturers. Then they switched to an Earles fork , front suspension by swinging fork (1955 to 1969). Most modern BMWs are truly rear swingarm, single sided at
4305-521: The 4.2 L V8 engine . The V6s were replaced by new 2.4 L and 2.8 L 30V V6s in 1998, with marked improvement in power, torque and smoothness. Further engines were added along the way, including a 3.7 L V8 and 6.0 L W12 engine for the A8. Audi's sales grew strongly in the 2000s, with deliveries to customers increasing from 653,000 in 2000 to 1,003,000 in 2008. The largest sales increases came from Eastern Europe (+19.3%), Africa (+17.2%) and
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4410-435: The 8th and 11th fastest lap times over the test, beating competitors such as Mercedes-Benz and Nissan . For the race itself , the R8Rs would again show their reliability. Although they managed to qualify 9th and 11th, they managed to outlast the bulk of their competitors from Mercedes-Benz , Toyota , Panoz , Nissan , and BMW . In the end, the R8Rs managed to come home in a respectable 3rd and 4th places, again scoring
4515-559: The Allies . With no prospect of continuing production in Soviet-controlled East Germany, Auto Union executives began the process of relocating what was left of the company to West Germany . A site was chosen in Ingolstadt , Bavaria , to start a spare parts operation in late 1945, which would eventually serve as the headquarters of the reformed Auto Union in 1949. On 17 August 1948, Auto Union AG of Chemnitz
4620-632: The Audi 60, 75, 80, and Super 90, selling until 1972. Initially, Volkswagen was hostile to the idea of Auto Union as a standalone entity producing its own models having acquired the company merely to boost its own production capacity through the Ingolstadt assembly plant—to the point where Volkswagen executives ordered that the Auto Union name and flags bearing the four rings were removed from the factory buildings. Then VW chief Heinz Nordhoff explicitly forbade Auto Union from any further product development. Fearing that Volkswagen had no long-term ambition for
4725-465: The Audi brand, Auto Union engineers under the leadership of Ludwig Kraus developed the first Audi 100 in secret, without Nordhoff's knowledge. When presented with a finished prototype, Nordhoff was so impressed he authorised the car for production, which when launched in 1968, went on to be a huge success. With this, the resurrection of the Audi brand was now complete, this being followed by the first generation Audi 80 in 1972, which would in turn provide
4830-434: The Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create Audi's predecessor company, Auto Union. Audi's slogan is Vorsprung durch Technik , which is translated as 'Progress through Technology'. Audi, along with German brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz , is among the best-selling luxury automobile brands in the world. Automobile company Wanderer was originally established in 1885, later becoming
4935-421: The Audi unintended acceleration problems: "Once an unintended acceleration had begun, in the Audi 5000, due to a failure in the idle-stabilizer system (producing an initial acceleration of 0.3g), pedal misapplication resulting from panic, confusion, or unfamiliarity with the Audi 5000 contributed to the severity of the incident." This summary is consistent with the conclusions of NHTSA's most technical analysis at
5040-484: The Auto Union business, under a new owner, to embark on a period of profitable growth, now producing not Auto Unions or DKWs, but using the "Audi" name, resurrected in 1965 after a 25-year gap. In 1964, Volkswagen acquired a 50% holding in the business, which included the new factory in Ingolstadt, the DKW and Audi brands along with the rights to the new engine design which had been funded by Daimler-Benz, who in return retained
5145-463: The English language and are sometimes used interchangeably for cars and motorcycles. The circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel evolved from the circular Rapp Motorenwerke company logo, which featured a black ring bearing the company name surrounding the company logo, an image of a horse head on a plinth. BMW retained Rapp's black ring inscribed with the company name, but the interior of
5250-456: The German car market, while Audi held only 0.1%. After the final few Audis were delivered in 1939 the "Audi" name disappeared completely from the new car market for more than two decades. Richard Bruhn , a Nazi party member, was Auto Union's chairman of the board from 1932 to 1945 and then again after the war when the company was reestablished. In 2014 Audi became the last major German car company, after Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, to commission
5355-451: The Horch brand belonged to his former company. Since August Horch was prohibited from using horch as a trade name in his new car business, he called a meeting with close business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau. At the apartment of Franz Fikentscher, they discussed how to come up with a new name for the company. During this meeting, Franz's son was quietly studying Latin in
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#17328025078015460-660: The Illinois state and U.S. federal levels. In the mid-to-late 1990s, Audi introduced new technologies including the use of aluminium construction. Produced from 1999 to 2005, the Audi A2 was a futuristic super mini, born from the Al2 concept, with many features that helped regain consumer confidence, like the aluminium space frame , which was a first in production car design. In the A2 Audi further expanded their TDI technology through
5565-407: The Ingolstadt head office site. In 1958, in response to pressure from Friedrich Flick , then the company's largest single shareholder, Daimler-Benz took an 87% holding in the Auto Union company, and this was increased to a 100% holding in 1959. However, small two-stroke cars were not the focus of Daimler-Benz's interests, and while the early 1960s saw major investment in new Mercedes models and in
5670-541: The M lineup is: The letter "M" is also often used in the marketing of BMW's regular models, for example the F20 M140i model, the G11 M760Li model and various optional extras called "M Sport", "M Performance" or similar. BMW has a long history of motorsport activities, including: The global BMW Headquarters in Munich represents the cylinder head of a 4-cylinder engine . It was designed by Karl Schwanzer and
5775-634: The Middle East (+58.5%). China in particular has become a key market, representing 108,000 out of 705,000 cars delivered in the first three quarters of 2009. One factor for its popularity in China is that Audis have become the car of choice for purchase by the Chinese government for officials, and purchases by the government are responsible for 20% of its sales in China. As of late 2009, Audi's operating profit of €1.17 billion ($ 1.85 billion) made it
5880-564: The Rover brands, retaining only the Mini brand. In 1998, BMW also acquired the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand from Vickers . The first modern mass-produced turbocharged petrol engine was introduced in 2006 (from 1973 to 1975, BMW built 1,672 units of a turbocharged BMW M10 engine for the BMW 02 Series ), with most engines switching over to turbocharging over the 2010s. The first hybrid BMW
5985-624: The United Kingdom, the Netherlands (ceased in 2023), the United States, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, India and China. The Quandt family [ de ] is a long-term shareholder of the company, following investments by the brothers Herbert and Harald Quandt in 1959 that saved BMW from bankruptcy , with the remaining shares owned by the public . The Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik was founded in 1910 by Gustav Otto in
6090-492: The United States fell after a series of recalls from 1982 to 1987 of Audi 5000 models associated with reported incidents of sudden unintended acceleration linked to six deaths and 700 accidents. At the time, NHTSA was investigating 50 car models from 20 manufacturers for sudden surges of power. A 60 Minutes report aired 23 November 1986, featuring interviews with six people who had sued Audi after reporting unintended acceleration, showing an Audi 5000 ostensibly suffering
6195-477: The United States for the 1970 model year. That same year, the mid-sized car that NSU had been working on, the K70 , originally intended to slot between the rear-engined Prinz models and the futuristic NSU Ro 80 , was instead launched as a Volkswagen. After the launch of the Audi 100 of 1968, the Audi 80 /Fox (which formed the basis for the 1973 Volkswagen Passat ) followed in 1972 and the Audi 50 (later rebadged as
6300-695: The West German versions. West and East German models were equipped with the traditional and renowned DKW two-stroke engines. The Zwickau plant later manufactured the infamous Trabant until 1991, after it was acquired by the Volkswagen Group following the reunification of Germany, and has since been substantially rebuilt. In 2021, production of the Audi Q4 e-tron began at the plant, marking the return of Audis being manufactured at Zwickau after over 80 years. A new West German headquartered Auto Union
6405-486: The affected models—with the 5000 becoming the 100 and 200 in 1989 —and reached the same sales levels again only by model year 2000. A 2010 BusinessWeek article—outlining possible parallels between Audi's experience and 2009–2010 Toyota vehicle recalls —noted a class-action lawsuit filed in 1987 by about 7,500 Audi 5000-model owners remains unsettled and remains contested in Chicago 's Cook County after appeals at
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#17328025078016510-565: The back (compare with the regular swinging fork usually, and wrongly, called swinging arm ). Some BMWs started using yet another trademark front suspension design, the Telelever, in the early 1990s. Like the Earles fork, the Telelever significantly reduces dive under braking. BMW Group, on 31 January 2013, announced that Pierer Industrie AG has bought Husqvarna Motorcycles for an undisclosed amount, which will not be revealed by either party in
6615-505: The biggest contributor to parent Volkswagen Group's nine-month operating profit of €1.5 billion, while the other marques in Group such as Bentley and SEAT had suffered considerable losses. May 2011 saw record sales for Audi of America with the new Audi A7 and Audi A3 TDI Clean Diesel. In May 2012, Audi reported a 10% increase in its sales—from 408 units to 480 in the last year alone. Audi manufactures vehicles in seven plants around
6720-500: The black outline encircling the rondel. The logo is used for BMW's branding communications but it is not used on vehicles. The slogan 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' was first used in North America in 1974. In 2010, this long-lived campaign was mostly supplanted by a campaign intended to make the brand more approachable and to better appeal to women, 'Joy'. By 2012 BMW had returned to 'The Ultimate Driving Machine'. In 2023,
6825-475: The board of trustees. In September 1921, Audi became the first German car manufacturer to present a production car, the Audi Type K, with left-handed drive. Left-hand drive spread and established dominance during the 1920s because it provided a better view of oncoming traffic, making overtaking safer when driving on the right. In August 1928, Jørgen Rasmussen , the owner of Dampf-Kraft-Wagen (DKW), acquired
6930-794: The company was nearly taken over by rival Daimler-Benz. A large investment in BMW by Herbert Quandt and Harald Quandt resulted in the company surviving as a separate entity. Günther Quandt , was a well-known German industrialist, joined the Nazi party in 1933 and made a fortune arming the German Wehrmacht, manufacturing weapons and batteries. Many of his enterprises were appropriated from Jewish owners under duress with minimal compensation. At least three of his enterprises made extensive use of slave laborers, as many as 50,000 in all. One of his battery factories had its own on-site concentration camp, complete with gallows. Life expectancy for laborers
7035-458: The dormant Horch trademark and the Düsseldorf factory which became a Mercedes-Benz van assembly plant. Eighteen months later, Volkswagen bought complete control of Ingolstadt, and by 1966 were using the spare capacity of the Ingolstadt plant to assemble an additional 60,000 Volkswagen Beetles per year. Two-stroke engines became less popular during the 1960s as customers were more attracted to
7140-508: The duo of BMWs and the improved Panoz , although the second R8R suffered mechanical woes and finished well down the order. For Silverstone , the two R8Rs would perform better, again taking a podium finish. Beaten once again by BMW and Panoz, the R8Rs would take 3rd and 4th places. Following Silverstone, the R8Rs were retired permanently as the new R8s would race for the rest of the American Le Mans Series season. The R8R
7245-421: The early 1980s. Many BMW's are still produced in this layout, which is designated the R Series . The entire BMW Motorcycle production has, since 1969, been located at the company's Berlin-Spandau factory. During the Second World War, BMW produced the BMW R75 motorcycle with a motor-driven sidecar attached, combined with a lockable differential , this made the vehicle very capable off-road. In 1982, came
7350-435: The fatally flawed NSU Ro80 went out of production in 1977, spelling the effective end of the NSU brand. Production of the Audi 100 had been steadily moved from Ingolstadt to Neckarsulm as the 1970s had progressed, and by the appearance of the second generation C2 version in 1976, all production was now at the former NSU plant. Neckarsulm from that point onward would produce Audi's higher-end models. The Audi image at this time
7455-470: The five-cylinder engine was a successful and robust powerplant, it was still a little too different for the target market. With the introduction of an all-new Audi 100 in 1992, Audi introduced a 2.8L V6 engine . This engine was also fitted to a face-lifted Audi 80 (all 80 and 90 models were now badged 80 except for the USA), giving this model a choice of four-, five-, and six-cylinder engines, in saloon , coupé and convertible body styles. The five-cylinder
7560-432: The future. The company is headed by Stephan Pierer (CEO of KTM). Pierer Industrie AG is 51% owner of KTM and 100% owner of Husqvarna. In September 2018, BMW unveiled a new self-driving motorcycle with BMW Motorrad with a goal of using the technology to help improve road safety. The design of the bike was inspired by the company's BMW R1200 GS model. The current model lines of BMW cars are: The current model lines of
7665-457: The head of the BMW Group. In January 2021, BMW announced that its sales in 2020 fell by 8.4 percent due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, BMW witnessed a rise of 3.2% in its customers' demands. This recovery was supported by the company's adoption of widely accepted technologies and integration of third-party services such as Apply Pay and on-demand music. On 18 January 2022 BMW announced
7770-574: The historical trademarks and intellectual property of the original constituent companies (the exception being Horch, which had been retained by Daimler-Benz after the VW takeover), and to operate Audi's heritage operations. In 1986, as the Passat-based Audi 80 was beginning to develop a kind of "grandfather's car" image, the type 89 was introduced. This completely new development sold extremely well. However, its modern and dynamic exterior belied
7875-433: The ideas of Felix Wankel . In 1967, the new NSU Ro 80 was a car well ahead of its time in technical details such as aerodynamics, light weight, and safety. However, teething problems with the rotary engines put an end to the independence of NSU. The Neckarsulm plant is now used to produce the larger Audi models A6 and A8 . The Neckarsulm factory is also home of the " quattro GmbH " (from November 2016 " Audi Sport GmbH "),
7980-404: The logo is based on the image of an airplane propeller spinning in a blue sky. This myth likely stems from a 1929 BMW advertisement that depicted the logo superimposed on a rotating propeller. However, the logo predates that advertisement by 12 years. The current iteration of the logo was introduced in 2020, removing 3D effects that had been used in previous renderings of the logo while removing
8085-513: The low performance of its base engine, and its base package was quite spartan (even the passenger-side mirror was an option). In 1987, Audi put forward a new and very elegant Audi 90 , which had a much superior set of standard features. In the early 1990s, sales began to slump for the Audi 80 series, and some basic construction problems started to surface. Through the early 1990s, Audi began to shift its target market upscale to compete against German automakers Mercedes-Benz and BMW . This began with
8190-701: The majority of shares in Audiwerke AG. In the same year, Rasmussen bought the remains of the U.S. automobile manufacturer Rickenbacker , including the manufacturing equipment for 8-cylinder engines. These engines were used in Audi Zwickau and Audi Dresden models that were launched in 1929. At the same time, 6-cylinder and 4-cylinder ( the "four" with a Peugeot engine) models were manufactured. Audi cars of that era were luxurious cars equipped with special bodywork. In 1932, Audi merged with Horch , DKW, and Wanderer , to form Auto Union AG, Chemnitz . It
8295-540: The name the same year. BMW's first product was produced for fighter aircraft of the Luftstreitkräfte . It was a straight-six aircraft engine called the BMW IIIa , designed in the spring of 1917 by engineer Max Friz . Following the end of World War I, BMW remained in business by producing motorcycle engines, agricultural equipment, household items, and railway brakes. The company produced its first motorcycle,
8400-554: The release of the Audi V8 in 1990. It was essentially a new engine fitted to the Audi 100/200, but with noticeable bodywork differences. Most obvious was the new grille that was now incorporated in the bonnet. By 1991, Audi had the four-cylinder Audi 80, the 5-cylinder Audi 90 and Audi 100 , the turbocharged Audi 200 and the Audi V8. There was also a coupé version of the 80/90 with both four- and five-cylinder engines. Although
8505-440: The ring is quartered blue and white, reminiscent of the coat of arms and flag of Bavaria (which in turn are based on the arms of the historic House of Wittelsbach , which ruled Bavaria for many centuries). The logo does not bear the distinctive lozenge shape found on the coat of arms, however, as local laws at the time it was introduced forbade the use of state coats of arms on commercial logos. A persistent myth claims that
8610-611: The second generation Q5. From 2002 up to 2003, Audi headed the Audi Brand Group, a subdivision of the Volkswagen Group's Automotive Division consisting of Audi, Lamborghini and SEAT, which was focused on sporty values, with the marques' product vehicles and performance being under the higher responsibility of the Audi brand. BMW The BMW Group (legally, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG , commonly abbreviated to BMW ( German pronunciation: [ˌbeːʔɛmˈveː] ), sometimes anglicized as Bavarian Motor Works ),
8715-518: The smoother four-stroke engines. In September 1965, the DKW F102 was fitted with a four-stroke engine and a facelift for the car's front and rear. Volkswagen dumped the DKW brand because of its associations with two-stroke technology, and having classified the model internally as the F103 , sold it simply as the "Audi". Later developments of the model were named after their horsepower ratings and sold as
8820-443: The time: "Audi idle-stabilization systems were prone to defects which resulted in excessive idle speeds and brief unanticipated accelerations of up to 0.3g [which is similar in magnitude to an emergency stop in a subway car]. These accelerations could not be the sole cause of [(long-duration) sudden acceleration incidents (SAI)], but might have triggered some SAIs by startling the driver. The defective idle-stabilization system performed
8925-579: The use of frugal three-cylinder engines. The A2 was extremely aerodynamic and was designed around a wind tunnel . The Audi A2 was criticised for its high price and was never really a sales success but it planted Audi as a cutting-edge manufacturer. The model, a Mercedes-Benz A-Class competitor, sold relatively well in Europe. However, the A2 was discontinued in 2005 and Audi decided not to develop an immediate replacement. The next major model change came in 1995 when
9030-421: The viability of all-wheel-drive racecars, and the Audi name became associated with advances in automotive technology. In 1985, with the Auto Union and NSU brands effectively dead, the company's official name was now shortened to simply Audi AG . At the same time the company's headquarters moved back to Ingolstadt and two new wholly owned subsidiaries; Auto Union GmbH and NSU GmbH , were formed to own and manage
9135-434: The war, BMW concentrated on the BMW 801 aircraft engine using as many as 40,000 slave laborers. These consisted primarily of prisoners from Nazi concentration camps , most prominently Dachau . Motorcycles remained as a side-line and automobile manufacture ceased altogether. BMW's factories were heavily bombed during the war and its remaining West German facilities were banned from producing motor vehicles or aircraft after
9240-431: The war. Again, the company survived by making pots, pans, and bicycles. In 1948, BMW restarted motorcycle production. BMW resumed car production in Bavaria in 1952 with the BMW 501 luxury saloon. The range of cars was expanded in 1955, through the production of the cheaper Isetta microcar under licence. Slow sales of luxury cars and small profit margins from microcars, meant BMW was in serious financial trouble and in 1959
9345-509: The world, some of which are shared with other VW Group marques although many sub-assemblies such as engines and transmissions are manufactured within other Volkswagen Group plants. Audi's two principal assembly plants in Germany are: Outside of Germany, Audi produces vehicles at: In September 2012, Audi announced the construction of its first North American manufacturing plant in Puebla , Mexico. This plant became operative in 2016 and produces
9450-499: Was a conservative one, and so, a proposal from chassis engineer Jörg Bensinger was accepted to develop the four-wheel drive technology in Volkswagen 's Iltis military vehicle for an Audi performance car and rally racing car. The performance car, introduced in 1980, was named the " Audi Quattro ", a turbocharged coupé which was also the first German large-scale production vehicle to feature permanent all-wheel drive through
9555-535: Was acquired by Volkswagen from Daimler-Benz . After relaunching the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series, Volkswagen merged Auto Union with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969, thus creating the present-day form of the company. The company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch . Horch , meaning 'listen', becomes audi in Latin. The four rings of
9660-467: Was also lower and featured more aerodynamic styling over the original stylized prototype. However, following Sebring, further testing was done on the R8R in order to better improve its overall speed in preparation for Le Mans. The front bodywork was further evolved, with a wider and more curved sidepod being used. The NACA ducts were also replaced with a vertical air inlet coming out of the side fender. The tail
9765-425: Was also shortened, and aerodynamic elements were added to the styling of the sidepods. Only five R8Rs would be built in total. #204 and #205 would run Sebring only in 1999, while #307 and #308 would run Le Mans. #306 would be added in 2000 to compete in the American Le Mans Series. Lessons learned from the R8R would be later evolved into the R8 for 2000. Following months of testing, the R8R made its racing debut at
9870-511: Was commissioned to paint the BMW 3.0 CSL racing car driven by Hervé Poulain at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which became the first in the series of BMW Art Cars. Since Calder's work of art, many other renowned artists throughout the world have created BMW Art Cars, including David Hockney , Jenny Holzer , Roy Lichtenstein , Robert Rauschenberg , Frank Stella , and Andy Warhol . To date, a total of 19 BMW Art Cars, based on both racing and regular production vehicles, have been created. BMW sponsors
9975-406: Was completed in 1972. The building has become a European icon and was declared a protected historic building in 1999. The main tower consists of four vertical cylinders standing next to and across from each other. Each cylinder is divided horizontally in its center by a mold in the facade. Notably, these cylinders do not stand on the ground; they are suspended on a central support tower. BMW Museum
10080-572: Was deleted from the commercial register. These actions had the effect of liquidating Germany's Auto Union AG. The remains of the Audi plant of Zwickau became the VEB (for "People Owned Enterprise") Automobilwerk Zwickau or AWZ (in English: Automobile Works Zwickau). The former Audi factory in Zwickau restarted assembly of the pre-war models in 1949. These DKW models were renamed to IFA F8 and IFA F9 and were similar to
10185-538: Was during this period that the company offered the Audi Front that became the first European car to combine a six-cylinder engine with front-wheel drive. It used a power train shared with the Wanderer, but turned 180 degrees, so that the drive shaft faced the front. Before World War II , Auto Union used the four interlinked rings that make up the Audi badge today, representing these four brands. However, this badge
10290-574: Was enthusiastically accepted by everyone attending the meeting. On 25 April 1910 the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau (from 1915 on Audiwerke AG Zwickau ) was entered in the company's register of Zwickau registration court. The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10/22 hp (16 kW) Sport-Phaeton, was produced in the same year, followed by the successor Type B 10/28PS in the same year. Audi started with
10395-470: Was far superior in terms of pace and reliability. Following twelve hours though, R8Rs were successful in taking a podium with a 3rd-place finish, while the other team car managed 5th. Following Sebring, the R8Rs returned to testing, joined by the new R8Cs . At Le Mans testing in May, the R8Rs were able to go up against the bulk of the major manufacturers for the first time. The Audis showed their pace by taking
10500-583: Was launched in Ingolstadt with loans from the Bavarian state government and Marshall Plan aid. The reformed company was launched 3 September 1949 and continued DKW's tradition of producing front-wheel drive vehicles with two-stroke engines. This included production of a small but sturdy 125 cc motorcycle and a DKW delivery van, the DKW F89 L at Ingolstadt. The Ingolstadt site was large, consisting of an extensive complex of formerly military buildings which
10605-622: Was six months. While Quandt and BMW were not directly connected during the war, funds amassed in the Nazi era by his father allowed Herbert Quandt to buy BMW. The relative success of the small BMW 700 assisted in the company's recovery, allowing them to develop the New Class sedans. The 1962 introduction of the BMW New Class compact sedans was the beginning of BMW's reputation as a leading manufacturer of sport-oriented cars. Throughout
10710-662: Was soon dropped as a major engine choice; however, a turbocharged 220 PS (160 kW; 220 hp) version remained. The engine, initially fitted to the 200 quattro 20V of 1991, was a derivative of the engine fitted to the Sport Quattro . It was fitted to the Audi Coupé , named the S2 , and also to the Audi 100 body, and named the S4 . These two models were the beginning of the mass-produced S series of performance cars. Sales in
10815-529: Was suitable for administration as well as vehicle warehousing and distribution, but at this stage there was at Ingolstadt no dedicated plant suitable for mass production of automobiles: for manufacturing the company's first post-war mass-market passenger car plant capacity in Düsseldorf was rented from Rheinmetall-Borsig . It was only ten years later, after the company had attracted an investor, when funds became available for construction of major car plant at
10920-560: Was the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid 7 , and BMW's first mass-production electric car was the BMW i3 city car, which was released in 2013, (from 1968 to 1972, BMW built two battery-electric BMW 1602 Elektro saloons for the 1972 Olympic Games). After many years of establishing a reputation for sporting rear-wheel drive cars, BMW's first front-wheel drive car was the 2014 BMW 2 Series Active Tourer multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) . In March 2018, Daimler and BMW merged their mobility services. In August 2019, Oliver Zipse replaced Harald Krüger as
11025-436: Was used only on Auto Union racing cars in that period while the member companies used their own names and emblems. The technological development became more and more concentrated and some Audi models were propelled by Horch- or Wanderer-built engines. Reflecting the economic pressures of the time, Auto Union concentrated increasingly on smaller cars through the 1930s, so that by 1938 the company's DKW brand accounted for 17.9% of
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