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The Auto-Union arose from the unification of the four brands Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer in 1932. Economic difficulties of some of these manufacturers forced them to unite under a single brand. At first, the head office of the enterprise was located in Zschopau, until in 1936 the new firm centre in Chemnitz could be inaugurated. The trade mark of the four linked rings symbolised the union of the four parties involved. However, the four different label names maintained. They stood for simple, sporty, luxurious and/or middle class cars. Only the Grand Prix racing car presented in 1934, a vehicle designed by Porsche, had the name Auto- Union. On 1st December 1938, 305,514 passenger cars of the Auto-Union were registered in Germany. Beginning in 1937, the Auto–Union – Horch and Wanderer – was involved in the production of the medium and heavy Einheits-Pkw. A 1.5 ton lorry was introduced by the Auto-Union in 1942 but this type was not accepted by the Wehrmacht. Instead of this, Wanderer had to manufacture the Steyr 1500 A under license from 1943 to 1944.
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