Editing Audi (section)

===Modern era===
[[File:Audi NSU Auto Union AG 1969.jpg|thumb|Participation certificate of the Audi NSU Auto Union AG, issued August 1969]]
The new merged company was incorporated on 1 January 1969 and was known as '''Audi NSU Auto Union AG''', with its headquarters at NSU's Neckarsulm plant, and saw the emergence of Audi as a separate brand for the first time since the pre-war era. Volkswagen introduced the Audi brand to the United States for the 1970 model year. That same year, the mid-sized car that NSU had been working on, the [[VW K70|K70]], originally intended to slot between the rear-engined Prinz models and the futuristic [[NSU Ro 80]], was instead launched as a Volkswagen.

After the launch of the [[Audi 100]] of 1968, the [[Audi 80]]/Fox (which formed the basis for the 1973 [[Volkswagen Passat]]) followed in 1972 and the [[Audi 50]] (later rebadged as the [[Volkswagen Polo]]) in 1974. The Audi 50 was a seminal design because it was the first incarnation of the [[Volkswagen Golf|Golf/Polo]] concept, one that led to a hugely successful world car. Ultimately, the Audi 80 and 100 (progenitors of the [[Audi A4|A4]] and [[Audi A6|A6]], respectively) became the company's biggest sellers, whilst little investment was made in the fading NSU range; the [[NSU Prinz|Prinz]] models were dropped in 1973 whilst the fatally flawed [[NSU Ro80]] went out of production in 1977, spelling the effective end of the NSU brand. Production of the Audi 100 had been steadily moved from Ingolstadt to Neckarsulm as the 1970s had progressed, and by the appearance of the second generation C2 version in 1976, all production was now at the former NSU plant. Neckarsulm from that point onward would produce Audi's higher-end models.

The Audi image at this time was a conservative one, and so, a proposal from chassis engineer [[Jörg Bensinger]]<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsID/2050225.007/country/gcf/audi/audi-quattro-the-early-years
| title = Quattro, The early years
| access-date =2 November 2006
}}</ref> was accepted to develop the [[four-wheel drive]] technology in [[Volkswagen]]'s [[Volkswagen Iltis|Iltis]] military vehicle for an Audi performance car and [[Rallying|rally]] racing car. The performance car, introduced in 1980, was named the "[[Audi Quattro]]", a [[Turbocharger|turbo]]charged coupé which was also the first German large-scale production vehicle to feature permanent [[all-wheel drive]] through a centre [[differential (mechanical device)|differential]]. Commonly referred to as the "Ur-Quattro" (the "[[Proto-World language|Ur-]]" prefix is a German [[augmentative]] used, in this case, to mean 'original' and is also applied to the first generation of Audi's [[Audi S4|S4]] and [[Audi S6|S6]] Sport Saloons, as in "UrS4" and "UrS6"), few of these vehicles were produced (all hand-built by a single team), but the model was a great success in rallying. Prominent wins proved the viability of all-wheel-drive racecars, and the Audi name became associated with advances in automotive technology.

In 1985, with the Auto Union and NSU brands effectively dead, the company's official name was now shortened to simply '''Audi AG'''. At the same time the company's headquarters moved back to Ingolstadt and two new wholly owned subsidiaries; ''Auto Union GmbH'' and ''NSU GmbH'', were formed to own and manage the historical trademarks and intellectual property of the original constituent companies (the exception being Horch, which had been retained by Daimler-Benz after the VW takeover), and to operate Audi's heritage operations.

[[File:Audi Quattro 20V - 001.jpg|thumb|right|[[Audi Quattro]]]]
In 1986, as the Passat-based [[Audi 80]] was beginning to develop a kind of "grandfather's car" image, the ''type 89'' was introduced. This completely new development sold extremely well. However, its modern and dynamic exterior belied the low performance of its base engine, and its base package was quite spartan (even the passenger-side mirror was an option). In 1987, Audi put forward a new and very elegant [[Audi 90]], which had a much superior set of standard features. In the early 1990s, sales began to slump for the Audi 80 series, and some basic construction problems started to surface.

Through the early 1990s, Audi began to shift its target market upscale to compete against German automakers [[Mercedes-Benz]] and [[BMW]]. This began with the release of the [[Audi V8]] in 1990. It was essentially a new engine fitted to the Audi 100/200, but with noticeable bodywork differences. Most obvious was the new grille that was now incorporated in the bonnet.

By 1991, Audi had the four-cylinder Audi 80, the 5-cylinder [[Audi 80|Audi 90]] and [[Audi 100]], the turbocharged [[Audi 100|Audi 200]] and the Audi V8. There was also a [[Audi Coupé|coupé version]] of the 80/90 with both four- and five-cylinder engines.

Although the five-cylinder engine was a successful and robust powerplant, it was still a little too different for the target market. With the introduction of an all-new Audi 100 in 1992, Audi introduced a 2.8L [[V6 engine]]. This engine was also fitted to a face-lifted Audi 80 (all 80 and 90 models were now badged 80 except for the USA), giving this model a choice of four-, five-, and six-cylinder engines, in [[Saloon (automobile)|saloon]], [[coupé]] and [[Convertible (car)|convertible]] body styles.

The five-cylinder was soon dropped as a major engine choice; however, a [[Turbocharger|turbocharged]] {{convert|220|PS|kW hp|abbr=on}} version remained. The engine, initially fitted to the 200 quattro 20V of 1991, was a derivative of the engine fitted to the [[Audi Quattro#Sport Quattro|Sport Quattro]]. It was fitted to the [[Audi Coupé]], named the [[Audi S2|S2]], and also to the Audi 100 body, and named the [[Audi S4|S4]]. These two models were the beginning of the mass-produced [[Audi S models|S series]] of performance cars.