DKW

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Dampf Kraft Wagen

Industry	Automotive
Founded	1916
Defunct	1966; 58 years ago (1966)
Fate	merged into Auto Union in 1932, marque defunct 1969
Successor	Auto Union AG (1932–1969) Audi NSU Auto Union AG (1969–1985) Audi AG (1985–present)
Headquarters	Zschopau, Germany (1916–1932) Chemnitz (1932–1949) Ingolstadt (1949–1969)
Key people	Dr Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen, founder of DKW[1]
Products	Automobiles, motorcycles

DKW (Dampf-Kraft-Wagen, English: "steam-powered car"; the same initials later also used for Deutsche Kinder-Wagen, English: "German children's car"; Das Kleine Wunder, English: "the little wonder"; and Des Knaben Wunsch English: "the boy's wish") was a German car- and motorcycle-marque. DKW was one of the four companies that formed Auto Union in 1932 and thus became an ancestor of the modern-day Audi company.^[2]

In 1916, Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. That year he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, which he called the DKW.^[3] That steam car was unsuccessful, and in 1919 he made toy two-stroke engines under the name Des Knaben Wunsch – "the boy's wish". He put a slightly modified version of the toy engine into a motorcycle and called it Das Kleine Wunder^[3] – "the little wonder", and by the late 1920s DKW had become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer.

In September 1924, DKW bought Slaby-Beringer ^[de], saving them from Germany's hyperinflation economic crisis. Rudolf Slaby became chief engineer at DKW.^[4] In 1932, DKW merged with Audi, Horch and Wanderer to form Auto Union.^[3] After World War II, DKW moved to West Germany. The original factory became MZ.^[1] Auto Union came under Daimler-Benz ownership in 1957 and was purchased by the Volkswagen Group in 1964. The last German-built DKW car was the F102, which ceased production in 1966. Its successor, the four-stroke F103, was marketed under the Audi brand, another Auto Union marque.

DKW-badged cars continued to be built under license in Brazil and Argentina until 1967 and 1969 respectively. The DKW trademark is currently owned by Auto Union GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Audi AG which also owns the rights to other historical trademarks and intellectual property of the Auto Union combine.