Car and traffic fair
Munich auto show IAA wants to stay big and visible
The IAA auto show took place in Munich for the first time in the summer. Photo: Sven Hoppe / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The IAA auto show has never been as visible as it was during its new edition in Munich in the summer. It even took place on public streets and squares. This also meets with opposition – but it should stay that way.
The Munich trade fair company does not want to give way to the protests against the new IAA car and traffic fair in the Bavarian capital.
The first Munich IAA Mobility last August, with 400,000 visitors from 94 countries, “immediately became the largest mobility event in the world because it is no longer just a car show,” said Klaus Dittrich, head of the fair in Munich.
In terms of media reach, the event, with 1.2 billion contacts in 2021, ranked third worldwide behind the Olympic Games and the European Football Championship. “An advertisement for the city that would be priceless, that you couldn’t afford.”
Criticism is “very petty”
A key point of criticism of the new IAA concept was that the car companies had set up their stands in the most beautiful squares in downtown Munich. “The discussion as to whether the lawn on the Königsplatz was destroyed or not is very petty,” said Dittrich.
The Greens and other IAA opponents criticize, among other things, that the city center was made available to the manufacturers as advertising space. Munich had prevailed as an event location in a competition against several other German cities. If the Munich city council were to ban car manufacturers from the city center again before the next IAA 2023, Dittrich fears that the VDA auto industry association could move with the event. “I know at least six German cities that would rub their hands.”
VDA plans with Munich
The VDA then emphasized that it wanted to stay in Munich. “We are in constant contact with the city and Messe München and are planning to continue the successful IAA format in Munich,” said Managing Director Jürgen Mindel. In its new form, the trade fair is intended to serve as a forum for discussion, including with critics of the automotive industry. The next edition in 2023 will continue to be “the platform where this necessary social dialogue will take place”.
Before the Corona pandemic, the Munich trade fair company was one of the most successful in Europe and organizes internationally important leading events for the respective sectors in several sectors. These include the construction machinery fair Bauma, the real estate fair Expo Real and the sporting goods fair Ispo. After two years of losses due to corona, Dittrich expects the trade fair company to be in the black again this year.
A highlight in the summer should also be three major concerts, each with over 100,000 visitors, for which, according to Dittrich, fans from all over the German-speaking world and beyond have already bought tickets: Helene Fischer, Robbie Williams and Andreas Gabalier are to perform.