came off the production line in April 1977. During 1968, the first full year of production, 5,986 cars were produced, increasing to 7,811 in 1969 and falling slightly to 7,200 in 1970. After this output declined, to about 3,000 - 4,000 per year for the next three years. The relatively high fuel consumption of the rotary engine worked against the car after the dramatic fuel price rises accompanying the oil crisis of 1973, and between 1974 and 1976 annual production came in well below 2,000 units. In total 37,398 Ro80s were produced during the ten-year production run. Ultimately, it was the contrasting success of the similarly sized Audi 100 that sealed both the fate of the Ro 80, and the NSU brand as a whole within the Auto Union-NSU combine, as parent company Volkswagen began nurturing Audi as its performance-luxury brand in the late 1970s. After the discontinuation of the Ro 80 in 1977, the Neckarsulm plant was switched over entirely to producing Audi's C- and D- platform vehicles (the 100/200, and later the Audi A6 and A8), and the NSU brand disappeared from the public eye. See also Citroën GS Birotor Citroën M35 Mazda Cosmo References Notes Bibliography External links Ro 80 Cars powered by Wankel engines Cars introduced in 1967 Front-wheel-drive vehicles 1970s cars