BThe organizers have recently trembled as to whether the International Motor Show IAA for passenger cars can take place in this year marked by the corona pandemic. If everything goes so well, the IAA, which will be held in the Bavarian capital for the first time, will run until September 12th. That is significantly shorter than before, when the IAA took place in Frankfurt every two years and there drew 600,000 to 900,000 visitors within eleven days.
For some automakers that seemed too little, the concept with large areas in huge halls was outdated and too expensive, it was said at the time. So the exhibition location was re-advertised, the choice fell on Munich. Here the exhibition is divided. Mainly manufacturers and trade visitors should meet at the exhibition center, while the general public should be addressed at various locations across the city. However, the automakers only drive at half speed, which means that the Volkswagen brand can only be seen in the exhibition hall. Other brands, on the other hand, are only available in the city.
Many do not even come to Munich, such as the Stellantis group, which includes the brands Opel, Peugeot, Citroën and Fiat. All Japanese from Toyota to Nissan to Honda are missing. Volvo, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Skoda, Seat or Rolls-Royce and many more shine through their absence, which the fan base should regret. Those who are there are really trying hard to live with the restrictions. Skoda has at least rented a café in the city center, protecting it against possible rioting with six security guards.
IAA Mobility
:
These are the new models
The right exhibitors are trying to convey their ideas of future mobility to men and women along a twelve-kilometer blue line. Formats of dialogue take place explicitly on the side of the motor vehicles, which are in a remarkable minority. 17 car brands meet 70 brands from the bicycle industry in Munich. Nevertheless, protests have been announced, the organizing association VDA, Messe München and the security forces are expecting demonstrations and fear a riot.
At the fair, which Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to open this Tuesday at 2.30 p.m., is about keeping up the conversation about mobility, which is so important for Germany, and about “transforming into a success story for the German automotive industry and thus for Germany as a business location make ”, as VDA President Hildegard Müller says. The association has identified more than 100 world premieres, but the spectacular ones can be counted on one hand. These include a look at a small electric car from VW, which is due to come onto the market in 2025, or the electric mid-range sedan EQE from Mercedes-Benz, which will soon be available.
Technologieoffenerer Ansatz
What all manufacturers have in common is their commitment to more climate-friendly mobility, which is expressed in the concentration on electric cars for Europe. Volkswagen insists that BMW and Mercedes-Benz are calling for a more technology-open approach. The farewell to the fossil fuel-burning internal combustion engine is omnipresent. Audi, for example, confirms that from 2026 it will only want to bring models onto the market that are purely electrically powered. Production of the models with combustion engines will be phased out by 2033. From 2030 onwards, Ford will only offer purely electrically powered new vehicles in Europe. Almost all manufacturers are planning something like this, with the commitments relating to passenger cars. In the commercial vehicle sector, the combustion engine has a significantly longer life, and even the Volkswagen Group, which is fully charged under its CEO Herbert Diess, is still planning to introduce a new diesel engine in its Multivan bus in 2026.
Aside from the actual bodies, autonomous driving is a topic in Munich, which, due to its complexity, takes longer than sometimes too full-bodied promised. Autonomous parking should become a reality sooner. Carpooling in self-driving vehicles that are still monitored by a driver is also on the agenda.
No matter how much horsepower irritate a still large clientele, other interests arise in the clientele. Ford is responding to these, for example, with a “mindfulness concept vehicle” that is equipped with special interior lighting, a meditation app, a power nap function and seat vibrations to calm the breathing and heart rate and aims to create a new form of wellbeing on board.
Questions will certainly also be discussed at the various stands, such as what a charging infrastructure should look like that makes electromobility attractive and sustainable not only on paper. Or how a city can live with a car instead of against it. “What will move us next” is the motto of the IAA Mobility 2021. We are already showing the automotive highlights here. If you want to get an impression personally, you have the opportunity to do so until next Sunday. Tickets for the outdoor areas are available from 20 euros, access to the exhibition halls is sometimes significantly more expensive.
.