Audi is a German car company with a long history dating back to 1909, when August Horch founded his first car company in Cologne, Germany. In 1910, Horch left the company and started a new one in Zwickau called Audiwerke.

The name "Audi" comes from the Latin word "audi", which means "listen", and is a translation of Horch's surname into Latin. In 1932, Audi joined with three other German car companies (DKW, Horch, and Wanderer) to form Auto Union AG, one of Germany's leading luxury car manufacturers.

During World War II, car production was interrupted due to restrictions imposed by the Nazi authorities. After the war, Auto Union was forced to rebuild its Zwickau factory, which had been destroyed during bombing raids. In 1949, production resumed with the Audi Type 356, a luxury car with a six-cylinder engine.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Audi specialized in producing mid-range cars like the Audi 80 and Audi 100. In 1980, the company launched its first successful sports car, the Audi Quattro, which had great success in rally competitions.

In the 1990s, Audi focused on producing luxury cars like the Audi A8 and Audi TT. In 1998, Volkswagen AG acquired a majority of Auto Union's shares, reuniting Audi with the other Volkswagen Group brands.

In the 2000s, Audi expanded globally, opening new factories in Europe and Asia. In 2005, the company launched its first hybrid car, the Audi A8 Hybrid, and in 2010 introduced its first fully electric car, the Audi e-tron.

Today, Audi is one of the world's leading car brands, with a wide range of vehicles from luxury cars to electric sports cars. The company continues to keep up with the times, developing new technologies to improve the safety, efficiency, and performance of its cars.