August Horch was born in Winningen, Rhenish Prussia. His initial trade and livelihood was as a blacksmith, and then was educated at Hochschule Mittweida (Mittweida Technical College). After receiving a degree in engineering, he worked in shipbuilding. Horch worked for Karl Benz from 1896, before founding A. Horch & Co. in November 1899, in Ehrenfeld, Cologne, Germany Later in 1909 the automotive pioneer founded Audi, in Zwickau, Germany.

Born in 1868, Horch trained as a blacksmith then studied engineering. By 1896, he managed an engine workshop for Karl Benz in Mannheim. To put this in perspective, Karl Benz patented the first car only 11 years prior.No, Audi was not the first car manufacturing company that August Horch started. In fact, Horch founded a car manufacturing company called A. Horch and Cie. in 1899. The Horch car company was pretty successful and even won many accolades in Europe. But in 1909, after some difference with investors, Horch decided to start a new company and hence Audi was born.

The first Horch automobile was built in 1901. The company moved to Reichenbach in 1902 and Zwickau in 1904. Horch left the company in 1909 after a dispute, and set up in competition in Zwickau. His new firm was initially called Horch Automobil-Werke GmbH, but following a legal dispute over the Horch name, he decided to make another automobile company. (The court decided that Horch was a registered trademark on behalf of August Horch's former partners and August Horch was not entitled to use it any more). Consequently, Horch named his new company Audi Automobilwerke GmbH in 1910, Audi being the Latinization of Horch.

Horch left Audi in 1920 and went to Berlin and took various jobs. He published his autobiography, I Built Cars (Ich Baute Autos) in 1937. He also served on the board of Auto Union, the successor to Audi Automobilwerke GmbH. He was an honorary citizen of Zwickau and had a street named for his Audi cars in both Zwickau and his birthplace Winningen. He was made an honorary professor at Braunschweig University of Technology