Audi is an automobile manufacturer from Germany. The headquarters of this organization are situated in Ingolstadt, Germany. Audi products are marketed under the name of Audi itself. Since 1964, Audi has been a wholly owned company of the Volkswagen Group.
August Horch, the founder of Audi brand launched a company named A. Horch & Cie in 1889 and he designed his first car, which was accomplished in 1901. Due to some share issues, A. Horch & Cie was moved to Zwickau. Even after that, the issue was still continuing so he left the company and launched a new company named Horch Automobil –Werke GmbH but he didn’t get legal dispute of this company name. So, he renamed the name into Audiwerke GmbH IN 1910.
In 1920, Horch got a high position with the ministry of transport and so he left Audi. However, he remained a member of the Audi’s board of trustees. In 1921, Audi introduced the Audi Type K, which was the first left-hand drive car. After that there was vast production of left hand drive cars. In 1928, DKW owner Jorgen Rasmussen held majority shares of Audi. In 1932, Audi combined with Wanderer, DKW and Horch and formed Auto Union.
In the pre-World War II period, Europe was facing major economic pressure and Auto Union faced major difficulty. After the Second World War, Auto Union was still severely damaged. In 1948, Auto Union AG was removed from the commercials register and this affected the company severely. Eventually Auto Union was liquidated and Audi’s plant in Zwickau increased production rapidly.
In 1949, the Audi factory in Zwickau started assembling pre-war units and in the same year, the New Auto Union was launched again in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. It started producing four-wheel drives of DKW tradition. In 1958, 87% of Auto Union Company was under the control of Daimler-Benz and in 1959 Daimler-Benz held 100% of it. The company stopped motorcycle production and started its new car plant.
In 1964, Volkswagen group held majority of Auto Union GmbH shares. By 1966, VW owned it entirely. After merging with VW group, Auto Union stopped producing two stroke engines, which the company had mainly produced while it was under Daimler-Benz. In 1968, Auto Union introduced the Audi 100, which was the first upper mid-sized class car. In 1972, the Audi 80 was introduced and this was one of its most successful models ever and more than a million units of this model were built and sold within six years. In 1974, Audi released Audi 50, which was its smallest car and it was built at the VW plant in Wolfsburg. After six months VW released this model as the Volkswagen Polo. Audi Quattro and the third generation Audi 100 were released in 1980 and 1982 respectively.
In 1994, Audi released a new premium segment model called the Audi A8, which was the first all-aluminum body model. Audi introduced a new naming process too, so the Audi 100 became Audi A4, Audi 80 became A6 and in 1996, Audi introduced the Audi A3, its first compact car model. In 2000, the company launched the Audi A2, which is the first volume built aluminum car.
Audi was introduced in India in 2004 and the company was not manufacturing any units during that time here, but was only selling its products. Only in 2007, Audi setup its own sales company in India. Audi India is a part of Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Limited, which is situated in Mumbai. Audi India aims to lead as a luxury automobile brand of India in the near future. Audi India mainly focuses on marketing, branding and exclusive dealerships in all over the country. Currently, Audi India is assembling Audi A4’s and Audi A6’s in the Aurangabad plant of Skoda Auto. At present, Audi imports or assembles the units for the Indian market.
August Horch was the founder of Audi. He was a German engineer and automobile pioneer. He worked for Karl Benz (Mercedes-Bend founder) before founding A. Horch & Cie. Horch built his first automobile in 1901.
In 1902, Horch’s A. Horch & Cie was moved to Reichenbach and in 1904 it was moved to Zwickau. He left the company in 1909 and formed a new firm named Horch-AutomobilWerke GmbH. Due to certain issues, the court restricted August Horch to use that name and so he was forced to change his company name into Audi Automobilwerke GmbH.
The four rings overlapping one another in the Audi logo symbolize the connections of four independent automobile manufactures (DKW, Audi, Wanderer and Horch) as these companies played a significant role in forming Audi AG. In 2009, the company released the new logo, which has mild changes in the font and in a three-dimension view of the rings. However, only the font is really noticeable.
Audi Dealers Network in India
The Flagship showroom of Audi India is situated in Cochin, South India. Currently Audi India has 15 dealerships throughout the country and the company is planning to extend this by 3 more in 2010. Audi India also provides an Audi Road Assistance Program, to attend to its customers in emergency situations at any time. The customers can avail of this service by simply making a phone call from anywhere in India. The 15 Audi India dealers from various cities and towns are – Audi Ahmedabad, Audi Bangalore, Audi Chandigarh, Audi Chennai, Audi Kochi, Audi Gurgaon, Audi Hyderabad, Audi Kolkata, Audi Ludhiana, Audi Mumbai, Audi New Delhi, and Audi Pune.
Before buying a used car customers typically have many doubts such as whether the cars condition is alright or whether it is value for money or whether the seller is trustworthy and so on. Buying Audi pre-owned cars from Audi pre-owned car dealers is one of the safest and smartest options for such a customer. Audi pre-owned car dealers offer an optional guarantee for pre-owned cars and these cars are mostly well-maintained vehicles. Such vehicles undergo various thorough check-ups like paint finish, vehicle history, rust, engine, vehicle documents and all other such important aspects for any customer.
Audi plans to upgrade its plant by investing USD 10.51 billion for new projects and green technology research. The company also focuses to expand its market share and customers worldwide. Audi plans to unveil several new models this year, namely, the A7 sport back, A8 luxury sedan, R8 Spyder, A1 sub-compact and then the compact crossover SUV Q5 Hybrid in 2011. Audi also plans to face lift its A4. Following VW electrification plans, Audi also plans to diversify into the electric future. Audi plans to manufacture the A1 e-tron concept and A8 hybrid concept too.
Audi Car models, Audi variants, Audi prices
Audi makes some of the most luxurious cars available in India. Some of its popular models are – TT, R8, Q5, Q7, A4, A6 and A8 models.
Audi A4 is a basic but versatile model of Audi. Audi A4 variants are: Audi A4 2.0 TDI 1968 CC for 34.8 lacs with diesel engine that comes with six airbags, ABS, traction control and a seven speed automatic gearbox; Audi A4 3.2 TDI Quattro comes with a 2967 cc diesel engine mated to a seven speed automatic transmission with ABS, eight Airbags, traction control and a 5 NCAP rating. It costs 46 lacs; Audi A4 1.8 TFSI has a 1798 cc engine with six speed automatic transmission and costs 26.6 lacs.
Audi A6 variants and their prices are - Audi A6 2.7 TDI costs 37 lacs and comes with a six speed automatic transmission and a 2698 cc engine. A6 2.8 FSI costs 38.5 lacs and it comes with a 2773 cc engine with a six speed automatic transmission, A6 3.0 TDI Quattro costs 44.4 lacs and it comes with a 2967 cc engine with a six speed automatic transmission, A6 3.0 TFSI Quattro costs 44.4 lacs that comes with 2995 cc engine and a six speed automatic transmission, A6 3.2 FSI Quattro costs 45 lacs and comes with a 3132 cc engine and six speed automatic transmission.
The Audi R8 is a super car with luxurious interiors and muscular exteriors. It delivers superb handling and enormous acceleration propelling it to extremely high speeds. This model comes in two variants, a Audi 4.2 FSI Quattro has 4163 cc petrol engine with six speed manual transmission and it costs 1.17 C and Audi R8 4.2 FSI Quattro R tronic also comes with 4163 cc petrol engine with six speed manual transmission that costs 1.17 C. They come in four attractive colors Metallic Ice Silver, Metallic Jet Blue, Pearl Effect Phantom Black and Pearl Effect Daytona Grey.
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