Berlin – When the International Motor Show starts in Munich on Tuesday, the whole country looks – and not only that. For decades, the IAA was the largest car show in the world. And the organizing Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) is particularly well networked.
There are some indications that this year’s IAA will be different from that of previous decades. The industry is in a state of upheaval. The combustion engine has become obsolete in the medium term; at the same time, there are still unresolved questions about alternative types of drive. In addition, motorized individual transport in cities is coming under increasing pressure overall because it takes up a disproportionately large amount of space. Sharing models point to the future.
All of these issues are to be discussed. Also and above all with the industry, as is to be done now in Munich at a large number of discussion forums on the mobility of the future. If the industry no longer primarily wants to let the chrome gleam at its exhibition, but rather wants to offer “solutions on the way to climate neutrality”, then you should take them at their word.
It is not so important whether the industry has changed on its own. But there is pressure, and the industry is also moving, and that counts. To see just a greenwashing behind the demonstrative change of heart, a pure image campaign, does not lead any further.
Which brings us to Berlin. The city could have had the IAA too. A year and a half ago, when the VDA was looking for a new location, Berlin was also under discussion. The fair seemed to fit in well with a city that rightly believes so much in its innovative mobility industry.
The project ultimately failed because of the red-red-green Senate, or more precisely: the Greens. For ideological reasons, they could not bring themselves to say yes to the IAA and even called up their own Senator for Economic Affairs for it. That is and remains incomprehensible. A missed opportunity for Berlin.