DKW

24 entries

German car and motorcycle marque of the 1920s and 1930s, a founding member of Auto Union and an ancestor of Audi.

Founded: 1916, by Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen
First car: The Typ P, 1928
Part of: Auto Union, from 1932
Ended: Last German-built DKW car, the F102, in 1966

The Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau in 1916 to produce steam fittings, and the DKW name came from his attempted steam car. By the late 1920s DKW was the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer, and its first car, the Typ P, appeared in 1928.

In 1932 DKW merged with Audi, Horch and Wanderer to form Auto Union. After the war the company moved to West Germany, and the last German-built DKW car, the F102, ceased production in 1966; its successor was sold as an Audi.