Dkw

Jörgen Skafte Rasmussen, a Danish engineer, established a business to make steam fittings at Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, in 1916. He made an effort to build the DKW, a steam-powered vehicle, that year. Des Knaben Wunsch, or "the boy's desire," was a two-stroke toy engine he created in 1919 despite its failure. He installed a slightly modified version of this engine in a motorbike and gave it the name Das Kleine Wunder, which later became the initials of the DKW brand, which by the late 1920s had grown to become the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world.

DKW acquired Slaby-Beringer [de] in September 1924, rescuing them from the economic catastrophe brought on by hyperinflation in Germany. At DKW, Rudolf Slaby was promoted to chief engineer. [4] To join Auto Union in 1932, DKW combined with Audi, Horch, and Wanderer. DKW relocated to West Germany after the Second World War. MZ was made at the original factory. In 1957, Auto Union was owned by Daimler-Benz, and in 1964, the Volkswagen Group acquired it. The 1966 manufacturing end of the F102 marked the end of DKW's German construction. The four-stroke F103, its replacement, was sold under the Audi name, another Auto Union trademark.

In Brazil and Argentina, under license, DKW-branded automobiles were still produced until 1967 and 1969, respectively. Auto Union GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi AG, presently holds the trademark rights for DKW as well as the other historical trademarks and intellectual property of the Auto Union conglomerate.

DKW | Audi MediaCenter
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1929–1964: DKW in racing | audi.com
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