The IAA has always stood for something big, something new, for new trends and new developments. At the same time, however, the IAA also shaped a certain continuity and a “business as usual” for which there was no longer any legitimacy.
The IAA MOBILITY in Munich now represents a radical change. For a radical change, a necessary change and a profound transformation that not only has an entire industry under control, but an entire society. Horizons are broadening, new topics arouse interest and old topics are rethought - all against the backdrop of a climate-neutral era.
The move of the IAA to Munich and the opening of one of the most influential and prestigious automobile fairs in the world to new mobility carriers, technologies and start-ups shows that the automotive industry, now the mobility industry, is ready to master this upheaval and not only to accompany this transformation , but to actively shape it.
Mobility and mobility carriers continue to develop. Classic drives, production and supply chains are changing. That is why it is not only the task of the major automobile manufacturers and suppliers to understand this change. Climate-neutral mobility does not begin when the vehicle is first placed on the road, nor when it is manufactured. If you want to shape the transformation, you have to think about the entire value chain and start where the optimization potential seems difficult, but is still greatest. The end of a fossil and reckless course of action was heralded - one would think. But the new mobility vehicles and drive types also need raw materials. Raw materials that are finite, increasingly rare, and their deposits are economically and geopolitically relevant.
The relevance of battery production and the associated, imperative, long-term and safe delivery of the necessary raw materials is increasing immensely. A concentration on intra-European supply chains and a strengthening of the European business location should be an urgent goal for the entire industry. But that's not all. Not only the beginning of what is probably the most important component of our mobility future has to be rethought, but the entire life cycle is the focus. Life-extending measures, constantly updated and independent verification of battery data to improve safety and quality as well as intensified efforts in the end-of-life and second-life markets must urgently be considered in our economic activities.
The representation of all these new, up-and-coming and partly still quite unknown market areas through the IAA Mobility is an important and correct step into a considered future. A future in which climate neutrality is not just a political goal, but a guiding principle that is internalized by each and every individual in the mobility industry and beyond. Let's use the opportunity together to anchor this maxim in our heads with innovation, inventiveness, the existing value chains and a strong Europe.
