Trabant is a passenger car brand founded in the German Democratic Republic. The name refers to the launch of the sputnik from the USSR into space. Trabant means satellite in Latin and German. The brand was a development of a small, cheap AWZ P70 car, which was produced in the same plants as the later Trabant – VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerk in Zwickau.
Meaning and History
In 1949, the Western sectors united to form the Federal Republic of Germany, and in the same year another country, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was formed under the auspices of the Soviet Union, which later became a stronghold of socialism in Germany.
The automobile industry of the GDR emerged there on the basis of Audi, Horch, and DKW automobile plants remaining in East Germany, which were part of the Auto Union concern in the 1930s.
The first Trabant car appeared in November 1957. It was assembled at the Sachsenring plant, formerly owned by Audi. In July 1958 at the plant in Zwickau, the mass production of Trabant P50 was launched, and in 1959, production of the Trabant P50/1 cargo-passenger model began. At the same time, export deliveries to socialist countries began.
But time went by and the car became obsolete – the lack of modern technologies, from which the countries of the socialist camp were cut off. By the end of the 60s, the Trabby was no longer a serious competitor for other European brands.
In 1991 Germany again became a unified state and the company producing Trabant cars was closed.
In terms of visual identity, Trabant was quite stable and strict. Since the full name of the brand was Sachsenring Trabant, the emblem of the brand was a stylized letter S.
What is Trabant?
Trabant was a former East German automobile manufacturer that produced affordable and iconic vehicles during the Cold War era. It is best known for its compact cars, such as the Trabant 601, which gained popularity in Eastern Europe.
1957 – 1991
For all its 34 years of existence (1957-1991), the company has had only one logo. It had a round shape in white with a black rim around it, inside which was a symbol resembling a stylized lightning bolt. Under the circle was the name of the company in black and the small abbreviation IFA on the left side.
Emblem and Symbol
The company emblem was completely silver, and its appearance resembled the logo of the Opel company.
