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IAA TRANSPORTATION 2022: "Commercial Vehicles on the Road to Climate Neutrality"
Mr. Mindel, your management colleague Andreas Rade will newly lead the Political and Social Affairs division starting in January 2022. At the same time, the VDA wants to strengthen its representation in Brussels. What has been lacking so far?
The VDA initiated a structural reform a year and a half ago at the request of its members and on the initiative of our new president Hildegard Müller. With the new team, we want to implement these reforms and above all create even greater value for our members. At the same time, the importance of the Brussels location is being taken into account. Many political issues that concern us are based on directives from the European Union.
How do you plan to gain more influence in Brussels?
With the "Fit for 55" package, but also dossiers like "Taxonomy", there are big tasks and challenges ahead for the industry. There is a consensus on the goal of climate neutrality, but the path to get there, the concrete measures, are now crucial. Only if climate and transformation policy is simultaneously a job, growth, and economic engine, while considering the realities of people's lives and being socially designed, will it be successful. This success is crucial—not only for the 14 million jobs that depend on the automotive industry in the EU—but also for the climate. Only if our path is copied internationally can we achieve the global goals. With this conviction, we will accompany all processes in Brussels early, actively, and constructively.
What are your expectations of the new federal government?
We see in the coalition agreement that the new federal government aims to strengthen Germany as a location. And we are pleased that the transformation is finally seen as an opportunity. It is no longer about "if," but about "how." In plain terms: it is about concrete instruments and measures. The fact is: only if we have the best location conditions in the world can we also achieve the most ambitious climate goals in the world. Our transformation can be a worldwide model example and be exported. That must be our common goal.
The government program is ambitious - ultimately, it will be measured by its implementation. One thing is especially important: the transformation must not further divide society or intensify conflict lines. Therefore, constructive, open dialogue and social design are crucial.
Under your leadership, the communication and member service departments have been merged. What are the upcoming priorities of your work?
We first want to offer our members a larger and broader range of services. At the same time, we have already significantly strengthened the association's communication last year and are now a strong driver of transformation, for example, in the area of charging infrastructure. We will continue to expand this. It is also important to me that we engage in dialogue more: this means putting old enemy images behind us and, together, in constructive debate with all parties involved, developing and enabling differentiated solutions for climate-neutral mobility for everyone.
And of course, we want to continue to develop our trade fairs IAA MOBILITY and IAA TRANSPORTATION. Here we want to organize even more attractive and modern events for our current and also for new exhibitors.
The IAA MOBILITY took place in 2021 in Munich already with the new concept. A brief conclusion?
We are more than satisfied. We must not forget that we successfully and safely conducted this event in very complex times. Over 400,000 visitors from 95 countries along with 744 exhibitors and 936 speakers are clear confirmations of our new concept. Additionally, we prepared the event with a new partner and at a new location under Corona conditions. Our teams and the team from Messe München met live on site only once a year and a half ago. From that point on, everything was done via video conference, including all discussions with exhibitors and clients. And we never had the certainty until the end that something might still happen to prevent the event.
What is your impression, are people in Munich also satisfied?
400,000 visitors in six days are a strong signal for the success of IAA MOBILITY. I witnessed the excitement and curiosity of the public towards the diverse offerings of the exhibitors daily in the Open Space in downtown Munich. This is also confirmed by the visitor survey: 86% of the visitors surveyed found our new concept good to very good. Over 7,000 test drives on the Blue Lane show that there is great interest from society in experiencing the new variety of climate-friendly mobility. At the same time, you always reflect on your own concept after an event. Together with Messe München, we are now considering how we can further optimize the IAA experience for 2023. In doing so, we are also taking the debate in Munich seriously and taking into account input from the urban community.
What are the initial ideas for 2023?
We want to build on the three pillars of Open Space, Exhibition Grounds, and the connecting Blue Lane, and further develop the concept. A major focus will also be on the IAA Conference again. The past IAA Conference has shown how dynamic and innovative the future of mobility is. This future is equally relevant for every member of our society, as mobility is crucial for participation in our daily lives. IAA MOBILITY brings together representatives of various social groups and creates a productive space for exchange. We want to expand on this in 2023. IAA MOBILITY is and will continue to be the platform where this necessary societal dialogue will take place.
What is the concept for the IAA TRANSPORTATION emerging from the IAA Commercial Vehicles in the coming year?
With IAA TRANSPORTATION, we want to show that transport, logistics, and commercial vehicles are already successfully on the path to climate neutrality and are making a significant contribution through world-leading innovations to achieve the Paris climate goals. This is one major pillar. The second pillar is digitalization. How will the commercial vehicle sector develop, but also how will the industry progress? We also want to showcase this at the IAA in Hanover.
And what are the differences from the IAA Commercial Vehicles?
IAA TRANSPORTATION is not a complete reorientation like we performed with the move of IAA MOBILITY from Frankfurt to Munich. It is an evolution of an existing concept. We want to strengthen the logistics sector as well as buses and focus on the themes of digitalization and climate neutrality. Additionally, we want to pick up the societal debate with the Conference. Therefore, we are also placing a focus on the topic of infrastructure, both in terms of charging and the challenges in urban areas. We want to underscore our claim as a leading platform in Hanover.
What influence has COVID had on planning?
Regarding the impact of COVID on trade fair planning, VDA has gained a lot of experience in the past year. We are entering 2022 as optimistically as we did in 2021 and hope that September will once again be a good time for a trade fair.
What would be a typical visitor to IAA TRANSPORTATION?
As a B2B event, we have many professional visitors from the areas of commercial vehicles, crafts, buses, and logistics. Additionally, many drivers traditionally attend. Because of the impressive vehicles, we are also a destination for family outings, especially on weekends. We are newly addressing the entire area of infrastructure and, thus, also the public sector or municipalities.
How do infrastructure topics fit into an IAA?
We need to think of mobility as a whole in the future. If we want to organize transport in a climate-neutral way, the industry must bring the corresponding products to the market. This requires the right infrastructure - electric charging stations as well as hydrogen refueling stations. We invite all companies involved in this project to IAA TRANSPORTATION, both as exhibitors and for discussions at the IAA Conference.
This also means that other modes of transport must play a role at the IAA – cargo bikes, rail transport, and air freight, for example.
Absolutely no contradiction. If Deutsche Bahn comes to IAA TRANSPORTATION, they are warmly welcome. The same goes for Lufthansa and any other company in this sector. It is important that we think across modes of transport in the future. A single mode of transport will not solve the challenges of the future.
IAA TRANSPORTATION is to be divided into four areas. What are they?
IAA Exhibition is the classic trade fair concept with visitors and exhibitors. We have also had IAA Experience in Hanover in the past years, albeit on a smaller scale. Here, visitors can experience the products live, such as in driving safety demonstrations. The IAA Conference was newly started in Hanover – again on a smaller scale – in 2018. In Munich at IAA MOBILITY, the format was then greatly expanded. A similar scope will also be present at IAA TRANSPORTATION. We want to discuss with all stakeholders involved in transport – rail, air freight, politics, energy sector – how we can achieve climate-neutral transport. We also want to invite social groups who are more critical of us.
Which groups would that be?
We are open to discussions with all classic NGOs like Greenpeace and BUND. We would also welcome Fridays for Future. Anyone willing to engage in an open, constructive, and non-violent discussion is warmly welcome.
How open is Hanover to an Open Space like the one in Munich?
IAA MOBILITY and IAA TRANSPORTATION differ in one crucial point - the focus in Hanover is on professional visitors. Therefore, we will also hold IAA TRANSPORTATION on the exhibition grounds. Open Spaces like in Munich are not planned in Hanover.
What does IAA TRANSPORTATION specifically offer to logisticians?
The IAA Conference will also focus on how logistics can continue to develop. And as a B2B fair, we offer a large platform for logistics visitors. Not least, we want to give space to last-mile logistics. Not just as exhibition space, but as part of the entire fair.
Will we also see cargo bikes in Hanover?
Everything is welcome. At IAA TRANSPORTATION, we think across modes of transport and do not want to exclude anyone. Cargo bikes are part of the logistics of the future just like electrically powered delivery vans.
Cargo bikes, rail transport, air freight – one quickly thinks of planning multimodal transport chains. Is that still IAA TRANSPORTATION?
If you continue to develop our approach in this way, I will not contradict you. The exhibition grounds in Hanover provide the optimal conditions for the gradual development of our format. We are thus well-positioned for the future.
With transport logistic in Munich, there is already a trade fair that addresses these topics...
We are partners with Messe München for IAA MOBILITY. And we can very clearly separate the two events. In the years when IAA TRANSPORTATION takes place, we are in Hanover and continue to develop our trade fair concept there. This meets the wishes of many of our member companies, but we also hear this in initial talks with other partners. The need for a trade fair that presents the future of transport solutions in a networked manner is present everywhere.
In conclusion: what can visitors expect in 2022 and why should they come to Hanover?
In Hanover, one will see and experience how transport, logistics, and commercial vehicles are evolving. And we will have a very attractive conference program, where we will look not only two or three years into the future. Here we will also discuss what transport and logistics will look like in 2030. We will show what we have already achieved and what we still need.
The interview was conducted by Tobias Schweikl
Translated automatically from German.
Branchenguide
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