Who is the Owner of Audi?

Audi is one of the most preferred luxury car all over the world. The iconic four rings logo has captured the attention of millions of people. The full name of the brand is AUDI AG and the headquarters of the company are located in Bavaria, Germany. Today Audi produces around 1.8 million vehicles every year and in the first quarter of 2026, the brand delivered 364,877 cars. However, do you know how this brand came into existence? Here is everything you need to know about who is the owner of Audi and its interesting history. 

Who Was the Founder of Audi?

The brand was founded by a German engineer August Horch. He was born on October 12, 1868 in Winningen, Germany. He studied mechanical engineering and worked for Karl Benz, the man behind the Mercedes Benz. Later on, August started his own company. 

In the year 1899, August Horch started his own company known as A. Horch & Cie in Germany itself. The first car of the company was built in 1901. However, he had a dispute with the financial officer of his company and had to leave it in the year 1909. 

Later on he started a brand new company located in Zwickau, Germany. He lost the right to use the name Horch because it was registered as a trademark by his former partners. 

He needed a new name. The word “Horch” in German means “listen” and one of his business partner’s son was studying Latin in the room during a meeting about the new name. This little boy suggested translating the word into Latin, which is "Audi."
That is how the name came into existence and the company was officially registered as Audi Automobilwerke GmbH on April 25, 1910. 

Timeline of Audi

Here is a simple look at how Audi grew from a small car company in Germany to a global brand:

• 1899: August Horch founded A. Horch & Cie. in Cologne, which was his first automobile company.

• 1910: After a dispute over the "Horch" trademark, August Horch founded a new company and named it Audi. 

• 1932: Four German car companies, namely Audi, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer, merged together to form a new company called **Auto Union AG**. The famous four-ring logo of Audi represents these four original companies. This merger took place on June 29, 1932.

• 1964: Volkswagen bought Auto Union from Daimler-Benz, giving Volkswagen control over the Audi brand for the first time.

• 1965: Volkswagen relaunched the Audi brand with a new model called the Audi F103 series.

• 1969: Volkswagen merged Auto Union with another company called NSU Motorenwerke, creating the modern form of the company that exists today.

• 1985: The company was officially renamed AUDI AG, which is the name that the company still carries today. 

• 1980: Audi introduced the quattro all-wheel drive system, which became one of the most important technical innovations in the history of rally and performance cars.

• 2020: Volkswagen completely bought all remaining shares in Audi, and that is how it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.

Who is the Owner of Audi?

The Audi company is owned by the Volkswagen Group completely. It is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. This full ownership was completed in the year 2020 when Volkswagen purchased remaining shares of Audi for approximately 230 million euros.

The Volkswagen Group is one of the largest car manufacturers in the world. The brand itself owns many other famous car brands such as Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, Skoda, Ducati, Scania, and in addition to Audi.

Who is the Current CEO of Audi?

The current CEO of Audi is Gernot Dollner. He took the role of Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG on September 1, 2023. He also sits on the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Group itself. 

He was born in 1969 and studied mechanical engineering in Braunschweig, Germany, and Waterloo, Canada. He joined the Volkswagen Group in 1993 as a student and later moved to Porsche AG in 1998. In Porsche he worked on car design, product strategy, and project management, and contributed to the iconic Porsche 918 Spyder as well. He came back to Volkswagen Group's main headquarters in 2021 and was appointed Audi's CEO two years later.