This is why the Audi logo is four rings and it's nothing to do with AWD
Published on Sep 19, 2025 at 11:29 AM (UTC+4)
by Molly Davidson
Last updated on Sep 19, 2025 at 1:29 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Most people assume the Audi logo and its four rings stand for Quattro all-wheel drive. Wrong.
The badge predates Quattro by nearly 50 years.
Those circles came from a 1932 merger that fused four German automakers into one.
Each ring represents a company, all locked together for survival.
DISCOVER SBX CARS – The global premium auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
Four brands, four rings, one Audi logo
In the depths of the Depression, the State Bank of Saxony had four struggling clients on its hands – Audi, Horch, DKW, and Wanderer.
Rather than watch them sink separately, it brokered a merger called Auto Union.
Overnight, Germany had a new automotive heavyweight, second only to Mercedes in scale.
But the new company needed an emblem.
The answer was simple: four interlinked rings, each standing for one of the partners.
To keep them from cannibalizing each other, each brand was given a lane – motorcycles and small cars for DKW, midsize sedans for Wanderer, premium models for Audi, and big luxury cruisers for Horch.
It wasn’t just marketing.
The badge made visible the pact and what was at stake if it broke down.
Stay tied together or fail apart.
That logo carried weight far beyond sheet metal.
Why everyone links the rings to AWD
Here’s where the mix-up begins.
In 1980, Audi unveiled the Quattro – a turbocharged coupe with permanent all-wheel drive.
It wasn’t just a new drivetrain; it was a revolution.
Audi started steamrolling the rally scene, selling road cars with the same tech, and plastering ‘Quattro’ across ads that showed cars climbing icy mountains.
By the mid-’80s, Quattro was a household word.
Four rings, four driven wheels – for anyone not deep in Audi’s backstory, it makes sense why you’d draw the link.
But they’re not.
Quattro is Audi’s AWD system, born in the ’80s.
The rings are a survival badge from the ’30s.
So next time someone points at the Audi logo and says ‘all-wheel drive,’ you can set them straight.
The four rings don’t mean traction.
They mean four companies, bound together in crisis, whose emblem still sits on every Audi grille today.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
Molly Davidson is a Junior Content Writer at Supercar Blondie. Based in Melbourne, she holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Arts/Law from Swinburne University and a Master’s of Writing and Publishing from RMIT. Molly has contributed to a range of magazines and journals, developing a strong interest in lifestyle and car news content. When she’s not writing, she’s spending quality time with her rescue English staffy, Boof.
