Logos - Automobile industry - II

Audi

Audi's history starts with the establishment of A.Horch & Cie. on 14 Nov,1899 by August Horch. A dispute with the board of the company saw his departure in 1909. Having lost the legal dispute to use the right of his name on the cars from his new company, he decided to use the Latin translation of his name. Thus the new company name Audiwerke GmbH became effective on 25 April,1910.

On 29 June, 1932, four companies, Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer joined to form Auto Union which succeeded in satisfying all segments of the market through the manufacture of light motor vehicles to luxury saloon cars.
The orders of the Soviet military administration in Germany brought an end to Auto Union in 1948. With the support from the Bavarian state government and Marshall Plan aid, the company Auto Union Gmbh got re-established in Ingolstadt on 3rd Sep, 1949.

The year 1965 saw the rebirth of the name Audi when a four-stroke engine developed by Daimler- Benz got installed in the last DKW model F 102 and was put forth as Audi.



Citroën


The world's first mass producer of front wheel drive cars, Citroën was founded in 1919 by André Citroën. His encounter with the gear-cutting process based on chevron design seen in Poland convinced him of the possibilities it had if used in steel. With this in mind he bought the patent which later became the logo of his automobile company.

Chevron design

The factory set up by him in Javel to manufacture shrapnel shells during the World War I started to function in the production of automobiles after the war; thus adding to the history of automobile industry.




Škoda


The end of 1895 saw the mechanic Václav Laurin and the bookseller Václav Klement begin the manufacturing of their own bicycles under the name of Slavia in Mladá Boleslav.

Slavia logo (Source: Škoda)

The first logo used from 1895-1905 was seen in the bicycles and motor cycles. The wheel with the lime leaves symbolised the Slav nations.

(Source: Škoda)

The design of the L&K logo, influenced by Art Nouveau, and seen from 1905-1925 consisted of the initials of the company's two founders, Laurin and Klement surrounded by laurels in the shape of a wreath which has always been associated with the victors and the famous.

(Source :Škoda)

In 1925, fusion with the Pilsen Škoda Company marked the end of Laurin & Klement trademark. Cars produced under the Škoda brand from 1926 had a logo which was oval in shape with the new brand name Škoda in the centre, surrounded by laurels.

(Source: Škoda)

The logo with the famous "winged arrow", supposed to be the stylished head of an Indian wearing a headdress with five feathers came into existence in 1926. The author of the logo is said to be the then commercial director Plzeň, T. Maglič. The blue and white circular logo, which is completed by a right-moving winged arrow with a stylised pinion, is currently used on some original Škoda parts like the engine blocks, window glass, etc.

The large circular ring of the current logo which came in existence in 1994 symbolises the universality of production, perfection of products, the globe, the world; pinion or the wing, the technical progress, span of production programme and sales of products in the world; the arrow, progressive production methods, high productivity; circle or the eye, the precision of production, technical brightness, range of vision; the black colour, the hundred-year tradition and the green colour, the environmental production, protection of the environment, and recycling of materials used.



Bugatti


The logo consisting of the pearl-framed oval with sixty pearls, the stylized initials of the brand's founder, Ettore Bugatti, and the word Bugatti has adorned the company's models since 1909. Founded in Molsheim, France, the company struggled like many during the Second World War. Today it is the part of the Volkswagen Group and is considered as a builder of very limited sports cars.