Audi vs Mercedes-Benz: Founders, CEOs and History
Audi was founded in 1909 by August Horch and is led by Gernot Döllner. Mercedes-Benz was founded in 1926 by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and is led by Ola Källenius.
Company facts
Audi
- Founded
- 1909
- Headquarters
- Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany
- Current CEO
- Gernot Döllner
- Employees
- 88,000
Mercedes-Benz
- Founded
- 1926
- Headquarters
- Stuttgart, Germany
- Current CEO
- Ola Källenius
- Employees
- 164,120
Founders
Audi
August Horch
Audi does not begin with a single founding moment but with a corporate split and a forced rename. August Horch, one of Germany's automotive pioneers, founded A. Horch & Cie.
Mercedes-Benz
Karl Benz
Mercedes-Benz possesses the most historic, foundational founding story in the entire global automotive industry, representing the effective, simultaneous invention of the modern automobile by two independent German engineers who never actually met.
Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Daimler co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and helped establish the engine lineage that later became part of Mercedes-Benz.
CEOs and their tenures
Audi
- Ferdinand Piëch1988–1993
Chief Executive Officer
Piëch joined Audi in 1972, ran development from 1975 and chaired the Board of Management from 1988 until he left for Volkswagen at the start of 1993.
Source - Martin Winterkorn2002–2007
Chief Executive Officer
Winterkorn led Audi from 2002 to 2007 and pushed the brand's product and design offensive of that period, including the single-frame grille that became the Audi face, the R8 mid-engine sports car and the Q7, Audi's first large SUV.
Source - Rupert Stadler2007–2018
Chief Executive Officer
Stadler ran Audi for 11 years and oversaw its largest expansion, including the build-out of the Q series and rapid growth in China. Audi brand deliveries roughly doubled during his tenure, passing 1.9 million cars in 2017.
Source - Markus Duesmann2020–2023
Chief Executive Officer
Duesmann, previously a BMW development board member, became Audi CEO in April 2020 with a mandate covering electrification and software.
Source - Gernot Döllner2023–present
Chief Executive Officer
The Supervisory Board appointed Döllner chairman of the Board of Management effective 1 September 2023, succeeding Markus Duesmann, and confirmed him for a further five years in autumn 2025.
Source
Mercedes-Benz
- Edzard Reuter1987–1995
CEO
Reuter's lasting contribution was largely a cautionary one: his diversification into aerospace (MBB, Dornier, Fokker) and electronics (AEG) was unwound by successors and showed that Daimler-Benz did best when focused on vehicles.
Source - Jurgen Schrempp1995–2005
CEO
Schrempp engineered the 1998 DaimlerChrysler merger and early DaimlerChrysler global expansion; the Chrysler deal's failure and 2007 sale made his tenure a reference case for misjudged scale-driven M&A.
Source - Dieter Zetsche2006–2019
CEO
Zetsche unwound the Chrysler merger in 2007, revived Mercedes design and compact-car sales, built China into the largest market, and in 2016 regained the global premium-sales lead from BMW.
Source - Ola Källenius2019–present
CEO
Källenius split off Daimler Truck, renamed the company Mercedes-Benz Group, pushed the Top-End luxury focus and MB.OS software, and is now steering the company through falling China sales and its largest-ever product launch programme.
Source
Timeline: Audi and Mercedes-Benz side by side
1886Mercedes-Benz
Benz Patent-Motorwagen
Karl Benz patented the Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1886, creating the mechanical foundation for the future Mercedes-Benz story. The vehicle mattered because it was designed as a complete gasoline-powered automobile rather than a modified carriage.
1909Audi
Founding in Zwickau
August Horch registers a new car company in Zwickau after leaving the firm that carried his own name, laying the foundation of the business that becomes Audi.
1910Audi
The Audi name is registered
Barred by a court from trading under his surname, Horch registers Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau, using the Latin imperative that translates the German word Horch, meaning listen.
1926Mercedes-Benz
Daimler-Benz AG formed
In 1926, Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and Benz & Cie. Merged to form Daimler-Benz AG, with administrative headquarters in Stuttgart.
1932Audi
Auto Union AG is formed
On 29 June 1932, at the initiative of Saxony's state bank, Audi, DKW, Horch and the car division of Wanderer Werke merge into Auto Union AG, then the second largest motor manufacturer in Germany. The four interlocking rings stand for the four companies.
1949Audi
Auto Union is re-established in Ingolstadt
After the Saxon plants are expropriated by the Soviet occupation authorities and Auto Union AG is struck from the Chemnitz commercial register in 1948, managers who fled west establish Auto Union GmbH in Ingolstadt on 3 September 1949 and begin building DKW va…
1954Mercedes-Benz
300 SL Gullwing launch
The 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing turned racing technology into one of the most recognizable road cars in automotive history. Its design, fuel injection, doors, and scarcity gave Mercedes-Benz a global halo product after World War II.
1958Audi
Daimler-Benz takes control
Daimler-Benz AG acquires 88 percent of Auto Union GmbH in April 1958 and makes it a wholly owned subsidiary the following year.
1965Audi
Volkswagen takes over and the Audi name returns
Volkswagenwerk AG takes over Auto Union in 1965. The same year the company launches its first post-war model with a four-stroke engine, the F103 series, under the revived Audi name.
1968Audi
The Audi 100 is developed without approval
Development chief Ludwig Kraus designs a larger car in secret, against the wishes of Volkswagen management. Presented in Ingolstadt in November 1968 as the Audi 100, its success secures Auto Union's independence inside the Volkswagen Group.
1969Audi
Merger with NSU
Auto Union GmbH and NSU merge to form AUDI NSU AUTO UNION AG within the Volkswagen Group.
1980Audi
quattro all-wheel drive is unveiled
The Audi quattro, with permanent all-wheel drive and two manually lockable differentials, is shown at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1980. It goes on to win the World Rally Championship manufacturers' title in 1982 and both titles in 1984.
1985Audi
The company is renamed AUDI AG
AUDI NSU AUTO UNION AG becomes AUDI AG, with its head office in Ingolstadt, and sales responsibility moves from Volkswagen to Audi as part of the move upmarket.
1994Audi
A8 introduces the aluminium Space Frame
Audi enters the luxury segment with the A8, the first volume production car built on the aluminium Audi Space Frame.
1998Audi
Lamborghini is acquired
Audi acquires Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. on 10 July 1998 after learning through an engine enquiry that the brand was for sale. Press reports at the time put the price at about 110 million US dollars.
1998Mercedes-Benz
DaimlerChrysler merger
Daimler-Benz and Chrysler combined in 1998 to create DaimlerChrysler, a transatlantic auto group built on the promise of premium engineering and North American scale.
2000Audi
The Le Mans run begins
Audi takes the first of 13 wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 2000 and 2014, including the first victory for a diesel car with the R10 TDI and later wins with the R18 e-tron quattro hybrid.
2006Mercedes-Benz
Dieter Zetsche
Dieter Zetsche led Daimler during the period when the company exited Chrysler and repaired focus around Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, vans, China, and product execution.
2007Mercedes-Benz
Chrysler divestiture refocused the company
The 2007 Chrysler divestiture was a turning point because it ended the most damaging expansion experiment in modern Mercedes-Benz history.
2015Audi
Diesel emissions scandal reaches Audi's V6 TDI
United States regulators find defeat-device software in the 3.0-litre V6 TDI engine family developed by Audi and fitted to Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche models.
2016Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz launched the EQ brand
Mercedes-Benz launched the EQ brand in 2016 to create a dedicated identity for electric vehicles and sustainable mobility.
2018Audi
An ~$904 million (800 million euro) order and a CEO resignation
Munich II prosecutors impose an ~$904 million (800 million euro) administrative order on AUDI AG over the diesel engines, and Audi accepts it. CEO Rupert Stadler resigns the same year after being arrested; he is convicted of fraud by negligence in 2023.
2019Mercedes-Benz
Ola Källenius
Ola Källenius became CEO in 2019 and pushed Mercedes-Benz toward value over volume, electrification, cost discipline, and software control.
2020Audi
Volkswagen buys out the last Audi shareholders
Volkswagen AG, holding about 99.64 percent of the share capital, carries out a squeeze-out of the remaining 0.36 percent of AUDI AG shares, ending Audi's stock market listing.
2021Mercedes-Benz
Daimler Truck Spin-Off
The 2021 spin-off of Daimler Truck separated heavy commercial vehicles from the Mercedes-Benz passenger-car, van, and mobility business. Shareholders also approved renaming Daimler AG as Mercedes-Benz Group AG effective February 1, 2022.
2021Mercedes-Benz
YASA Acquisition
Mercedes-Benz acquired YASA in 2021 to gain axial-flux electric motor technology for future high-performance EVs. The acquisition mattered because electric vehicles risk mechanical sameness if premium brands cannot differentiate the powertrain experience.
2023Audi
Gernot Döllner becomes CEO
The Supervisory Board appoints Gernot Döllner chairman of the Board of Management effective 1 September 2023, succeeding Markus Duesmann. He is confirmed for a further five years in autumn 2025.
2023Mercedes-Benz
~$173B (€153.2B) revenue peak
Revenue reached ~$173 billion (€153.2 billion) in 2023, the high point after the Daimler Truck spin-off, helped by premium pricing and supply recovery before the pressures of 2024 and 2025.
2024Audi
First Premium Platform Electric model
The Audi Q6 e-tron, the first production model on the 800-volt Premium Platform Electric developed with Porsche, reaches the market and becomes the first fully electric Audi built in Ingolstadt.
2024Mercedes-Benz
~$165B (€145.6B) revenue
In 2024, revenue declined to ~$165 billion (€145.6 billion), showing pressure from demand normalisation, weaker China sales and transition costs.
2025Audi
Restructuring agreement and a China-only brand
Audi and its works council sign an agreement for the future that removes up to 6,000 German jobs by 2027 while ruling out operational layoffs to the end of 2033.
2025Mercedes-Benz
Revenue falls to ~$149B (€132.2B)
Mercedes-Benz reported ~$149B (€132.2B) in FY2025 revenue, ~$9.27B (€8.2B) adjusted EBIT, about $5.99B (€5.3B) net profit, ~$6.1B (€5.4B) industrial free cash flow and 164,120 employees.
2026Audi
Formula 1 debut
Audi enters Formula 1 as the Audi Revolut F1 Team, racing from the season opener in Australia on 8 March 2026 with a power unit developed at its motorsport site in Neuburg.
2026Mercedes-Benz
Athlon sold to Arval
Mercedes-Benz completed the sale of its Athlon fleet-leasing business to Arval, BNP Paribas' leasing arm, on 31 July 2026, days after Q2 results showed revenue of ~$36.3 billion (€32.1 billion) and a 30% drop in China car sales.
Acquisitions
Audi
- Sauber Group2024Undisclosed
- Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.2012$1.1B
- Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A.2010Undisclosed
- Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.1998$110M
Mercedes-Benz
- YASA2021Undisclosed
- Athlon Car Lease International2016Undisclosed
- AMG Motorenbau / Mercedes-AMG1999Undisclosed
- Chrysler Corporation1998$36B
Questions about Audi vs Mercedes-Benz
Who is the CEO of Audi AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG?
Audi AG is led by Gernot Döllner and Mercedes-Benz Group AG is led by Ola Källenius. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Audi AG founded vs Mercedes-Benz Group AG?
Audi AG was founded in 1909 — 17 years before Mercedes-Benz Group AG, which was founded in 1926. Audi AG's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Mercedes-Benz Group AG.
How many employees does Audi AG have compared to Mercedes-Benz Group AG?
Audi AG employs approximately 88,000 people, while Mercedes-Benz Group AG employs approximately 164,120. Mercedes-Benz Group AG has the larger workforce at 164,120 employees, compared to Audi AG's 88,000. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Audi AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG headquartered?
Both Audi AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG are headquartered in Germany, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Audi AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG?
Audi AG was founded by August Horch. Mercedes-Benz Group AG was founded by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler.
Which company has a longer operating history — Audi AG or Mercedes-Benz Group AG?
Audi AG has been operating for approximately 117 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Mercedes-Benz Group AG has been in operation for around 100 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Audi vs Mercedes-Benz overview