Quattro (four wheel drive system)

Quattro (meaning four in Italian) is the sub-brand used by the car brand Audi AG to indicate that all-wheel drive (AWD) technologies or systems are used on specific models of its Audi automobiles. It is also Audi's actual performance division alongside S and RS

The word "quattro" is a registered trademark of Audi AG, a subsidiary of the German automotive concern, Volkswagen Group.

Quattro was first introduced in 1980 on the permanent four wheel drive Audi Quattro model, often referred to as the Ur-Quattro ("Ur-" is a German prefix that means "original" or "first"). The term quattro has since been applied to all subsequent Audi AWD models. Due to the nomenclature rights derived from the trademark, the word quattro is now always spelled with a lower case "q", in honour of its former namesake.

Other companies in the Volkswagen Group have used different trademarks for their 4WD vehicles. While Audi has always used the term "quattro", Volkswagen-branded cars initially used "syncro", but more recently, VW uses "4motion". Škoda simply uses the nomenclature "4x4" after the model name, whereas SEAT uses merely "4". None of the above trademarks or nomenclatures defines the operation or type of 4WD system, as detailed below.

Volkswagen Group has been developing four-wheel drive (4WD) systems almost since its inception during the Second World War. The Volkswagen Kübelwagen, Volkswagen Schwimmwagen and Volkswagen Kommandeurswagen were all military vehicles which required all four road wheels to be "driven", the latter being a 4WD Volkswagen Beetle. Their military, and four wheel drive experiences later aided them in designing the Volkswagen Iltis for the German military (Bundeswehr) in the 1970s. The Iltis utilized an early form of 4WD, which would later become synonymous with "quattro".

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