A Slogan with history: Audi marks 50 years of “Vorsprung durch Technik”
The Audi slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik” is marking its 50-year anniversary this year. Even half a century after its inception, the world-famous slogan of the Four Rings hasn’t lost any of its appeal. And each year, there’s a little bit more history behind it. On this momentous occasion, the company is looking back at a plethora of innovations over five decades that demonstrate why “Vorsprung durch Technik” isn’t just a slogan for Audi – it’s also an expression of the company’s future-oriented approach.
The birth of the slogan
1969 saw the merger of Auto Union GmbH, headquartered in Ingolstadt, and Neckarsulmer NSU Motorenwerke to form Audi NSU Auto Union AG at the Neckarsulm location. The new company’s range of models spanned from the air-cooled engines of the rear-wheel drive NSU Prinz series and the water-cooled four-cylinder engines of the front-wheel drive Audi 60 and Audi 100 to the rotary engine of the futuristic-looking NSU Ro 80. The idea to communicate this technological diversity as a competitive advantage came in 1970 from Hans Bauer. The employee in the Audi NSI advertising department devised the slogan that people around the world would come to recognise: “Vorsprung durch Technik.” In English, the slogan means ‘progress through technology’.
The new slogan made its first appearance in a large-sized ad in January of 1971. Soon, customers also saw it in Audi NSU brochures. Audi 100, Audi 100 Coupé S, Audi 80 or Audi 50 – they all now represented “Vorsprung durch Technik.” With the introduction of the Audi quattro in 1980, the slogan was used more frequently in advertising. The largest illuminated advertisement in Europe at the time was installed on a high-rise along the A9 Autobahn at the exit for Ingolstadt-Nord: the reddish-brown Audi oval with the slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik.” The slogan became a clear part of the Audi Corporate Identity by October 1986, when it was also used in the sales brochures for the Audi 80. Today, fifty years later, it’s synonymous with the company.
Changing technology
Which milestones laid the foundation for the fact that “Vorsprung durch Technik” continues to represent the drive for innovation at Audi and that the slogan is still used in all Audi advertising? Oliver Hoffmann, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Technical Development: “The most important milestone for me is quattro technology. Not only was it the foundation for our rally successes, it also represents the transfer of our experience from racing into serial production. Since then, quattro and Audi go hand-in-hand. Equally important was the first Audi A8 with Audi Space Frame technology in 1194, which helps us finally cement our place in the premium segment.”
The “decade of Audi” was kicked off in Le Mans in the early 2000s. With new technologies such as FSI, Turbo-FSI, laser light, ultra technology and hybrids, the Four Rings dominated the renowned long-distance race as the unparalleled serial winner. The aluminium compact A2 1.2 TDI also made its debut: It was the first and, to this day, only four-door three-litre car.
The company made the next quantum leap in 2018 with the introduction of the Audi e-tron, the first fully electric Audi vehicle to go into serial production, boasting a range of 400 kilometers and blazing the trail for premium electromobility. Three years later came the market launch of the Audi e-tron GT, revolutionary in its design and proof that the future of e-mobility will be exciting. The new brand campaign “Future is an Attitude” underlines the future-oriented approach of Audi to continually question age-old views of mobility.
At the end of the 2010s, sustainability became a core company goal. “This is why Audi is consistently dedicated to the environment, pulling together numerous measures for resource efficiency and reducing the ecological footprint in its location-independent environmental programme ‘Mission Zero,’” says Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Board of Management of Audi AG for Sales and Marketing. The goal: for Audi to be carbon-neutral by 2050. “We are developing into a provider of sustainable premium mobility and want to be a leader here. Which is why we are focusing our efforts to be a technological leader on environmentally friendly driving”.
