Audi is tired of its old logo. History of the Audi logo August Horch - founder of Audi

Historically, the four rings symbolize the companies Audi, Horch, Wanderer and DKW, which became part of the Auto Union AG concern in 1932. Only Audi has survived to this day, but the rings remained, although in the 90s the company came up with an alternative to them in the form of a red oval with white letters inside (today this emblem is no longer used).

In August last year, Audi introduced a new, rather confusing, indication of the conditional power level. This was explained by the desire to get away from the figures for the working volume of the internal combustion engine, which, in light of the widespread unification and hybridization, only indirectly affects the consumer characteristics of cars.

In September, it became known that Audi is planning a luxury sub-brand, under which the most luxurious and powerful versions of the flagship A8 sedan will be offered.

And now the Internet resource QuattroWorld, created by Canadian fans of Audi cars, has learned that the German company has patented two new versions of its emblem in the USA and Germany: in one, the rings completely lack central jumpers, in the other, the central jumper remains, but two there are no neighbors.

Why Audi needed new emblems is still unknown. Perhaps the empty fields vacated by jumpers will allow the inscription Audi or Horch, or both, to be placed inside the emblem. The original Horch emblem looks too bulky by modern standards, so Audi is probably looking for more organic ways to integrate it.

Our Canadian colleagues also suggested that the new emblems are an attempt to highlight Audi's transition to a new level of technology, namely the connection of Audi cars with each other and with the road infrastructure in light of the coming era of autonomous driving. The absence of jumpers seems to fix the continuity of the rings, and if now four elements are clearly visible in the emblem, then in the updated one there are two or one. In both cases, the emblem remains 100% recognizable and is identified as Audi.

On a global scale, Audi is still losing the competition to the BMW and Mercedes-Benz brands (1.8 million, 2.0 million and 2.5 million cars were sold in 2017, respectively). Perhaps updating the logo is an attempt to relaunch the brand, a way to once again draw attention to it target audience. On the other hand, all companies regularly “finish” their emblems and logos, making small changes to them that are noticeable only to connoisseurs and loyal fans of the brand. The laws of marketing require constant updates even where they are not required, so new emblems on Audi cars can appear just like that, without any idea.

The Audi company had many unfavorable moments that could radically change the well-being of this corporation. The history of Audi began back in 1899. The man who founded it was called August Horch. Initially, he gave his newly formed company the name "A. Horch & Cie." It should be noted that the founder's surname is translated from German as "listen."

10 years have passed and the founding father of the corporation is thrown out of his own organization outside. After grieving for some time, he decides to create a new company. In honor of his past brainchild, he names his second company Horch. However, dishonest former partners, with the help of the court, prohibit the use of this name.

Like everything ingenious, the name for the new company arose by chance. One day, when two partners and friends August Hörch and Franz Fikentscher were sitting and talking about various topics, including what name to choose for their company. That interesting idea submitted by Franz's son, who at that time was trying to do his Latin homework.

He said that we could try to translate the word "Horch" into Latin. When they translated it, they got the beautiful word “AUDI”, which they all really liked

In the early years, the AUDI inscription itself served as the company’s emblem, and only in the thirties of the last century were the now world-famous rings invented. And the whole point is that in the 30s of the last century a severe economic crisis occurred, many companies and firms simply went bankrupt, and to save their business, AUDI had to merge with its main competitors - Horch, Wanderer and DKW.

After such a powerful update, the new merged company urgently needed a simple and recognizable logo. First, the company's designers decided to draw four rings into which the company names were then written. After some time, this emblem was recognized as too complex and overloaded with unnecessary elements. Therefore, an attempt was made to significantly simplify it. After which four simple rings remained on the logo. However, at first they looked like a chain; the rings seemed to be fastened together. But then the company’s management came up with the idea of ​​drawing separate rings, just superimposed on each other.

However, this turned out to be not the last rebranding of this emblem. Relatively recently, in 2009, another attempt was made to improve appearance logo. After restyling, the rings began to look noticeably thicker, although they do not differ in area and thickness from the rings from the old emblem. As a result of the work carried out by professional designers, the entire logo now looks more prominent and elegant.

Four Audi rings like other images famous brands, envelops the history of the logo. This logo bears the name of August Horch, engineer and founder of the Horch automobile company. The fact is that when translated from German, Horch means “listen,” while when translated into Latin it sounds like audi. Previously, the founder of the company gave his creations his own name “Horch”.

But over time, he had to leave the company due to differences with shareholders and create a new automobile company. The Horch brand was already taken and the court prohibited August Horch from using his last name for the name.

One day, when Horch was talking with his business partner, Franz Fikentscher, the latter's son suggested the name Audi. During the conversation, Franz's son sat in the corner of the room and studied Latin. Several times he seemed ready to say something, but still returned to his lessons. Then he said: “Father, audiatur et altera Pars (listen to the other side)… how do you like the idea of ​​calling the company Audi instead of horch?” . "Höre" in German means "listen" - and in Latin it would be "Audi". Everyone immediately liked the idea - and it turned out to be “Audi”.

In 1934, during the economic crisis, the concern included four automobile companies: DKW and Wanderer, Horch and Audi. This association of four car factories was called Auto Union. That is, both partners and competitors have united.

The 1935 poster illustrates the variety of wonderful convertibles and limousines produced by the four merged companies.At this time, already every fourth car in Germany was produced by the Union Audi.

This merger became the motive for the appearance of the famous four-ring emblem, which after the war became the logo of only the Audi brand.

The new three-dimensional sign seems more detailed and realistic.

How often do you think about what this or that icon on a car means? Who invented it? What's its story? You can bet the answer will be: “No.” However, the history of the creation of the logo and its designation can be as interesting as the car itself.

For example, what do the four rings that adorn the hood of an Audi car mean?

The history of the creation of the Audi logo - what it means

The history of the formation of the Audi brand can be called complex. The company was named after its founder, August Horch. You may be surprised and ask a completely logical question: “What does Audi have to do with it?” It's actually simple. "Horch" (in German Horch) means "listen". When translated into Latin, you get the familiar word “audi”. Why did August Horch name the company Audi if his last name means the same thing?

The fact is that Horch named his first automobile company - A. Horche & Cie. It was back in 1899, and ten years later the founder was forced out of the company. August did not despair and founded another, giving it the name Horche. The former partners did not like this and filed a lawsuit. The court sided with them, and Horch had to come up with a new name for the brand.

He didn’t rack his brains for long over this question - the son of his business partner suggested the name “Audi”. The boy was studying homework when his father and August Horch were having a conversation during which they were trying to find the name of a new brand. The child tried several times to interrupt the conversation, but each time he returned to the Latin lesson. Then the boy made up his mind and said that he needed to look at the question from the other side, because “listen” in Latin would be “audi”.

The partners liked the idea. This is how the company gained its name.

1. A little later, a logo was invented - four rings. At first, the sign bore little resemblance to the emblem we are used to. The rings signified the merger of four companies:
2. Audi Werke.
3. "August Horch Automobile Werke".

Initially, the sign was used mainly on sports models. Regular cars were produced under their own brand and logo.

The resulting emblem after the merger was overloaded with elements. They decided to get rid of them, leaving only four rings. Reference!

Interestingly, the old logo featured chain links rather than being made from one piece like on modern cars.

New Audi logo

The resulting emblem after the merger was overloaded with elements. They decided to get rid of them, leaving only four rings. The company logo has been modified several times. The new sign has become more stylish and modern.

Many car emblems undergo modifications over time. Audi's progress in changing its logo is more noticeable.

The emblem has become smaller and thinner. Gone is the usual spelling of the letters A and D. In addition, a proprietary font was used for the emblem, and the name was aligned to the left edge of the logo, which is unusual for car enthusiasts.

The rings became more elegant, and their edges became faceted. At the same time, the emblem looks more voluminous than the previous version, although they are the same in size. In 2017, Audi patented two new emblems.

The first is two pairs of half rings interlocked with each other. The second is the familiar rings that have no interlacing. The reasons for the creation of two new logos are not yet reliably known. Some experts suggest that one option will be used for electric vehicles. Experts say that demand for e-tron cars should increase. The second emblem will look natural on luxury Audi models. These cars are distinguished by luxury, convenience, improved