Audi

1899 August: Horch began a car company carrying his surname in 1899.

1910: When Horch left that company to start afresh at Zwickau, Germany, he "translated his last name, which means ‘hark!’ or ‘listen!’ into Latin, ‘Audi’."

1932: Audi became part of Auto-Union, with DKW, Horch and Wanderer.

1933: Audi built front-wheel drive cars.

1949: The Soviet Union took Auto Union AG after WWII, so Auto-Union GmbH was established at Ingolstadt, later becoming Audi AG.

1965: New model called ‘Audi’ appeared, and Volkswagen AG acquired the company.

1969: NSU merged with Auto Union GmbH to form 'Audi NSU Auto Union AG'.

1968: The Audi 100 sedan was presented.

1972: The Audi 80 was launched.

1982: The Audi Quattro won the manufacturers' World Rally Championship.

1985: 'Audi NSU Auto Union AG' was renamed 'Audi AG'.

1998: Bought Lamborghini.

2000: An Audi R8 won the Le Mans 24-hour race (the start of a run).

2000 R8

2006: The turbo-diesel Audi R10 TDI caused a stir by winning the Le Mans 24-hour race (ditto 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 ...).

2010, June: Audi launched its A1 small car, from £13+K (uk Oct 2010). A prototype Quattro (4x4) A1 was shown in Jan. 2011.