The Auto Union Era
In Aug 1928, Jørgen Rasmussen, the owner of DKW, purchased lots of stocks in Audiwerke AG. In the same year, Rasmussen purchased the remains of the US vehicle manufacturer Rickenbacker, including the producing hardware for 8 cylinder engines. These engines were employed in Audi Zwickau and Audi Dresden models that were launched in 1929. At the exact same time, 6 cylinder and 4 cylinder (hired from Peugeot) models were manufactured. Audi autos of that time were plush automobiles supplied with special bodywork.
In 1932, Audi combined with Horch, DKW and Wanderer, to form automobile Union. It was in this period the company offered the Audi Front which was the 1st Western European automobile to mix a 6 cylinder engine with front-wheel drive, employing a unit shared with Wanderer but turned thru 180 degrees so the drive shaft faced the front. Before WW2, vehicle Union utilized the 4 interlinked rings which make up the Audi badge today, representing these 4 brands. This badge was employed, but only on automobile Union racing autos in that period, while the member corporations used their own names and emblems.
The technical development became more concentrated and some Audi models were driven by Horch or Wanderer built engines. Reflecting the business pressures of the time, vehicle Union concentrated increasingly on smaller vehicles thru the 1930s, so that by 1938 the organization's DKW brand accounted for 17.9% of the German auto market while Audi held only 0.1 percent.
