Audi AG: CEO History

The four interlocking rings in Audi's badge represent four separate automobile manufacturers — Audi, DKW, Horch, and Wanderer — that merged in 1932 to survive the Depression. The Q7, Q8, and A8 model lines generate the high average transaction prices that produce the 22-24% gross margins that make Audi's financial contribution to Volkswagen Group disproportionate to its volume. Quattro won the World Rally Championship and gave Audi a performance credibility that BMW and Mercedes could not immediately match. The four-ring badge was designed to represent the four constituent companies, a visual identity that has survived nearly a century of corporate ownership changes. Auto Union's racing program in the 1930s produced the Silver Arrows — the streamlined, mid-engine Grand Prix cars that dominated European motorsport alongside Mercedes-Benz. The engineering reputation established on those circuits was genuine: the cars were technically extraordinary by the standards of the era. The 1998 acquisition of Automobili Lamborghini gave the group a halo brand; the 2012 addition of Ducati extended the premium engineering narrative into motorcycles.