In April 1958 the then Daimler-Benz AG acquired a majority in Auto Union GmbH. All the remaining shares followed on 31 December 1959. By 1960, Auto Union was therefore a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler-Benz. Important moves for the future were made in the period up to 1 January 1965, when Volkswagen acquired a majority in Auto Union from Daimler-Benz: From 1961, the major Mercedes-Benz plant in Düsseldorf was constructed on a site previously operated by Auto Union. Mercedes-Benz also made important contributions to the development of the Audi models of the 1960s. Stuttgart. 60 years ago the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG held four meetings to deliberate on an initiative by major shareholder Friedrich Flick: in early 1958 he proposed a merger between Daimler-Benz AG and Auto Union GmbH. The industrialist reckoned that the model ranges of the two companies would complement each other. This would enable synergies to be us...