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 used for future development work. At that time Flick own