DKW, or Dampf-Kraft-Wagen, was formed by Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen in 1916. It started out in a factory in Zschopau, Saxony, Germany, to produce steam fittings. In the same year, he attempted to produce a steam-driven car, called the DKW, which ended up not selling. But the same year saw DKW build a two-stroke toy engine in 1919, which ended up powering a range of motorcycles.

Five years later DKW moved into car manufacture, and right from the beginning, built an innovative range of front wheels drive cars, starting with the F1. In 1932, DKW merged with Audi, Horch and Wanderer, to form the Auto Union. And in 1957, Auto Union came under Daimler-Benz ownership, and was then purchased by Volkswagen in 1964. The last German built DKW car was the F102, which mutated into the Audi F102 60-90 - production of the final DKW in Europe was in 1966.