Made in Germany: History of the German Car Industry

1970s – VW reinvents itself (and Audi)

In the 1970s, people started losing interest in the Volkswagen Beetle, and the company faced some problems. But things turned around when Volkswagen merged with NSU Moterenwerke AG and Auto Union, which they had bought from Daimler Benz in 1964. They brought back the Audi brand, which had existed since the late 1800s.

The engineers at Audi had the skills to make Volkswagen’s cars better. They made changes like putting the engine in the front and making the cars use water to cool down instead of air. This helped Volkswagen launch new cars like the Passat in 1973, the Gold in 1974, and the Polo in 1975. This was a big moment for Volkswagen.

People started buying more Volkswagen and Audi cars worldwide during the 1970s. Audi had particular success with the Audi 100 and the Audi 80.