At this year's IAA Cars, Germany's international motor show, there is more talk about visions for the future than about car exhaust. The German automotive industry's image has taken a series of knocks – from the diesel crisis, antitrust complaints and cheat software. The exhibitors hope to win back motorists' trust through new topics like digitization, automation and electric mobility.
Matthias Wissmann, President of German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), points out that this year's show focuses on connectivity and new mobility. No other car show in the world gives better guidance on automotive digitization than the IAA, he says. As such, in addition to new design studies and new models, car enthusiasts will also see representatives from Google and Facebook. Deutsche Telekom is also presenting new products from the world of connectivity and data in the New Mobility World. A recent startup event by T-Systems, Volkswagen and Wolfsburg AG showed that digital solutions for the mobility of tomorrow are also being developed beyond the major corporations.
Ten days before Germany's federal election, the world's biggest car show also presents an ideal stage for campaigning. 800,000 potential voters work in the automotive industry (German), and Chancellor Angela Merkel will once again express her outrage that the future of Germany as an industrialized country has been jeopardized. Her worries are not unjustified. It was almost exactly two years ago, during the IAA, when news broke that Volkswagen had installed emissions cheat software in millions of vehicles. Since then, the image of German carmakers has continued to decline and it's high time to change direction.
So it's quite fitting that the IAA hopes to lend itself a new identity by focusing on digitization. After all, the traditional trade show business is also experiencing a paradigm shift. Although the Frankfurt car show will once again be a glamorous affair, with 228 world premieres, this doesn't detract from the fact that some companies are staying away from the show (German), including Tesla, the most significant manufacturer of e-cars.
As such, activities in the show halls this year will concentrate above all on restoring lost faith in the future sustainability of Germany's key industry. And there are at least a few glimmers of hope: BMW is celebrating the launch of an electric Mini, Daimler unveiled an e-car study and Volkswagen is underscoring its ambitions in electric mobility with a major e-mobility offensive. At the same time, the new models demonstrate that combustion engines aren't history yet, particularly in light of current sales figures. It therefore remains to be seen whether the exhibitors at this year's IAA truly take their own visions seriously and will follow through on their promises of improved connectivity and digitization of their products in future.
