Audi Sport Logo

Audi Sport Brand Overview

The Audi Sport logo, a slanted red rhombus next to the words “Audi Sport”, belongs to the high-performance subsidiary of Audi. Audi AG set the company up on 10 October 1983 as quattro GmbH, with Jens Neumann as its first managing director. Its original jobs were to protect the quattro trademark worldwide and to sell premium products carrying the quattro name. The first of those, a range of travel accessories, went on sale in 1984.

The company grew into a carmaker step by step. It launched a personalization programme in 1995, today called Audi exclusive, and it was registered as a vehicle manufacturer in its own right in 1996. In January 1999 it moved its official headquarters from Ingolstadt to Neckarsulm. There it developed the RS 4 Avant, the first RS model it engineered entirely on its own, and later the Audi R8, its first complete in-house car, shown in 2006. R8 production at the Böllinger Höfe plant near Neckarsulm ended in March 2024. On 29 November 2016 quattro GmbH became Audi Sport GmbH. Stephan Winkelmann, who came from Lamborghini, had been its managing director since March of that year. Today the company is led by Rolf Michl and remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Audi AG. It covers RS models, Audi exclusive and customer racing.

Audi Sport Logo Meaning

The Audi Sport emblem is built from two parts: a red parallelogram, which Audi itself calls a rhombus, and the brand name in Audi’s red corporate lettering. The shape leans forward like a flag in the wind, which gives even a static badge a sense of speed. The symbol predates the company by two years. It was first registered as a trademark in January 1981, which ties the badge directly to the rally quattro rather than to any road car.

The name change in 2016 had a practical side as well. “quattro” stayed the name of Audi’s all-wheel-drive system. The subsidiary took the Audi Sport name, which Audi said honoured a motorsport tradition going back to the Auto Union Silver Arrows of the 1930s and the quattro rally cars of the 1980s.

Audi Sport Logo Evolution

1. 1983–2016
2. 1990s
3. 1990s–Present
4. 2004–Present

1981: The Striped Rally Rhombus

Audi registered the rhombus with the German Patent and Trademark Office on 23 January 1981. That was one day before the Audi quattro made its rallying debut at the Monte Carlo Rally. No reliably sourced image of this first version is available, so it is described here in words only.

• Design: a forward-leaning rhombus made of three parallel stripes
• Colors: red, grey and mahogany brown
• Changes: first use of the rhombus shape that every later badge keeps
• Context: worn by the works rally cars, and later by Audi racers in Trans Am, IMSA GTO and the DTM

1983–2016: The quattro GmbH Logo

For 33 years the company was named after Audi’s four-wheel-drive system, and its logo was simply the word “quattro” in lower case. The version shown is the wide, squared-off lettering the company used in its final years before the rename. Because the same word also appeared on the grilles of all-wheel-drive Audis, the company was easily confused with the drivetrain.

• Design: lowercase “quattro” wordmark with squared, rounded-corner letters
• Colors: black
• Changes: replaced by the Audi Sport name and rhombus in 2016
• Context: used on accessories, lifestyle products and company communications

1990s: The Red Rhombus with Four Rings

In 1990 the Audi S2 became the first production car to wear the rhombus. By then it was a solid red panel with the four rings set inside it. For the 1992 DTM season Audi gave its racing logo the same look. On S cars of the era, including the S6 badge shown here, the rhombus sat in a chrome frame next to separate, blocky segments carrying the model letters.

• Design: solid rhombus with the Audi rings inside, beside segmented chrome characters
• Colors: red field, silver rings, chrome frame
• Changes: the three stripes gave way to a single red colour and the rings were added
• Context: the first road-car use of the motorsport symbol

Late 1990s–present: The RS Badge

Around the middle of the B5 A4 generation, Audi dropped the segmented style for a slimmer badge. A silver-framed red rhombus now sits behind an italic chrome “S” on S models, or an “R” on RS models, with the rest of the name running on. This is the Audi RS logo most people know from the tailgates of the RS 4, RS 6 and RS 3. On some recent models, such as the facelifted SQ8, the letters have been moved clear of a stand-alone rhombus.

• Design: framed rhombus overlapped by the first letter of the badge
• Colors: red rhombus, chrome letters and frame
• Changes: rings removed from the rhombus, and segmented letters replaced by flowing italics
• Context: became the standard mark for Audi’s performance cars

2004–present: The Audi Sport Logo

From the 2004 racing season Audi put the words “Audi Sport” next to the red rhombus instead of the four rings. When quattro GmbH was renamed in 2016, this motorsport mark became the logo of the whole company. It now appears on RS cars, the Audi Sport collection of merchandise and customer racing cars.

• Design: plain rhombus followed by the “Audi Sport” wordmark
• Colors: red rhombus and red wordmark
• Changes: the rings disappeared from the rhombus and the brand name took their place
• Context: unified racing, RS models and lifestyle products under one badge

Audi RS vs S: What the Badges Mean

Audi uses three levels of performance naming. Regular models carry A or Q names, such as the A4 or Q5. S models, first seen on the 1990 S2 Coupé, are faster versions of the same cars. RS stands for RennSport, German for “racing sport”. Audi describes it as the most powerful version within a model series, and RS cars are developed by Audi Sport GmbH.

The RS line began with the 1994 RS 2 Avant, based on the Audi 80 Avant and assembled by Porsche in Zuffenhausen. Its 2.2-litre five-cylinder turbo made 315 hp. The 1999 RS 4 Avant, with a 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6 making 380 hp, was the first RS developed entirely by quattro GmbH. The current RS range runs from the five-cylinder RS 3 to the electric RS e-tron GT. A regular Audi with the “S line” package is not an S model. S line adds sportier styling and suspension but no extra engine power.

FAQ

What is the Audi Sport logo?

It is a red, forward-leaning rhombus followed by the words “Audi Sport”. The rhombus dates back to 1981 on Audi’s rally cars. The full logo has been used in racing since 2004 and has been the company logo since 2016.

What does the Audi RS logo mean?

RS stands for RennSport, or “racing sport”. The badge puts a chrome “R” over a framed red rhombus and marks the most powerful version of an Audi model line.

What is the difference between Audi RS and S?

S models are the sporty versions of regular Audis. RS models sit above them as the top performance versions and are developed by Audi Sport GmbH.

Is Audi Sport the same as quattro GmbH?

Yes. Audi founded quattro GmbH in 1983 and renamed it Audi Sport GmbH in November 2016. Its work continued unchanged, and the quattro name stayed with Audi’s all-wheel-drive system.

Where is Audi Sport based?

Audi Sport GmbH has its headquarters in Neckarsulm, Germany, where it moved from Ingolstadt in 1999.