In 1904, August Horch brought another branch of industry to Zwickau - automotive engineering - via stops in Cologne and Reichenbach/Vogtland. In the same year the A. Horch & Cie. Motorenwagenwerke AG produced 21 cars of the brand "Horch".
After differences between him and the supervisory board, Horch founded a new company at the same location in 1909. Since the name "Horch" was protected as a trademark, it was translated into Latin. "Audi" became the competitor to Horch.
In 1931, the engineers developed the first front-wheel drive small car with a two-cylinder two-stroke engine in just 6 weeks. In 1932 the Zwickau companies Horch and Audi joined forces with the Zschopauer Motorenwerke and the Chemnitzer Wandererwerke to form the Auto-Union: The four rings!
Today the trademark of Audi AG Ingolstadt. In addition to Opel and Daimler-Benz, the largest company in the industry had been established in Germany.
The countless Grand Prix victories and high-speed record runs in the Auto-Union racing cars from Zwickau also contributed to the company's success.
After the Second World War, Horch and Audi mainly produced tractors and trucks. On 1 May 1958, the first small car "Trabant" with a thermoset body left the assembly line of the "VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau".
On April 30, 1991, the last "Trabant" finally rolled off the assembly line of the Sachsenring plant into the automotive museum.
Zwickau's 100-year-old automotive tradition carries on with the production of the "Golf" and "Passat" models at the VW Sachsen GmbH plant in Zwickau's Mosel district.
The history of vehicle development and production has since continued with the involvement of Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH, one of the largest manufacturing companies in eastern Germany. The Golf, Golf Estate and Passat Estate models are manufactured here. Luxury bodies for the Bentley Continental series, the Bentley Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus also come from Zwickau.
From 2019, the production of electric vehicles is to be concentrated in Zwickau.
If you would like to learn more about the history of automotive construction in Zwickau, we recommend a visit to the Automobilmuseum August Horch.
