IAA tour: Waiting for a vision – Auto & Mobil


Leading trade fair? Performance show? Meeting place for car fans? The IAA Mobility looks very different from its predecessors – also different from the mega motor shows in Beijing or Shanghai. No exhibition halls full of high-gloss sheet metal or top managers clenching their suspenders with bursting optimism. The few new models and studies are lost among the many mobility providers, suppliers and tech start-ups. Because the IAA Mobility wants to integrate numerous forms of transport, it often appears fragmented and complicated. A tangible vision of the future city without exhaust fumes, noise and traffic jams does not arise in this way.

The IAA no longer seems to have much to do with the auto fetishism that was known from her. But appearances are deceptive. While the panel discussions in the exhibition halls are aimed more at trade visitors and experienced laypeople, the masses enjoy themselves at the (sales) stands and during test drives in the city center. BMW and Mercedes are also celebrating in their Munich brand palaces on the Mittlerer Ring. Whether this decentralized IAA offers its opponents who protest against the “System Auto” less attack surface?

The IAA in Frankfurt once attracted almost a million visitors. The IAA Mobility in Munich is far from that

The fact is that this apparently homogeneous “system” has long been in a state of upheaval. Growth is no longer a sure-fire success, competition is getting tougher and cost pressure is increasing – not least due to rising raw material prices and higher sustainability goals. Everything is put to the test: supply chains, production methods and sales models. “Car subscriptions are on the rise,” says Volkswagen sales director Klaus Zellmer. Half a year of ID 3 driving costs “all inclusive only 499 euros a month”. More range or more engine power can be booked with a few finger tips on the app. VW even wants to offer autonomous driving for eight euros per hour this decade. But even there a lot remains vague.

Other problems are more pressing. In the future, industry must better utilize its fleets, launch digital business models and market them more aggressively. This is exactly how young companies from China now want to conquer Europe. For example, the manufacturer Wey, an offshoot of Great Wall Motors, wants to offer its luxury SUV called Coffee 01 for a monthly leasing rate of 250 euros: price dumping for a 450 hp BMW X5 competitor with a plug-in hybrid and an electric range of 150 kilometers.

VW’s compact car study ID Life is a clumsy mixture of the original Golf and the Kübelwagen. But there is still a little time left before the ID 1 goes into series production.

(Photo: VW)

Speaking of cheap: there will also be a few small electric cars made in Europe at the next IAA in two years’ time. The VW ID 1 will not come until 2025, the Seat and Škoda derivatives are a few months earlier. VW boss Ralf Brandstätter promises a starting price of 20,000 euros. But why is it taking so long when the Tesla Model 2 at the price mentioned will come two years earlier? It cannot be due to the planned iron phosphate batteries, which Tesla is already using in the entry-level version of the Model 3. VW speaks of a full development pipeline and busy plants. There is also a need for clarification with regard to the design. VW’s small car study ID Life at the IAA is a clumsy mixture of the original Golf and Kübelwagen. “The production car doesn’t have to look like the study,” says Volkswagen’s top corporate designer, Klaus Zyciora.

Cupra boss Wayne Griffith with the show car Cupra Urbanrebel.

Cupra boss Wayne Griffith with the Urbanrebel show car, which is on the same platform as the VW ID Life.

(Photo: Uli Weber / Seat)

Design or not, the biggest problem facing Germany as an automotive location is still the manufacturing costs. Tesla’s Model 2 comes from China, as does the new electric smart (2022) and the mini successor (2023). It remains to be seen whether BMW’s Vision Circular concept, which is rumored to be the successor to the i3, will have a chance in Europe’s plants. What is clear, however, is that BMW’s “New Class” will return from the controversial beaver tooth grill to the kidney format in 2025: As a closed glass surface on which light signals are played.

What is currently bothering traditional manufacturers is the expensive duplication of their portfolios: even companies like Audi, Mercedes and Volvo, who have announced the exit from the combustion engine, have to sell it for quite a while to finance the transition. Stricter emissions standards (EU7), safety laws (GSR) and cybersecurity regulations (GBT) make it difficult to simply keep the traditional models running.

The first victims of the transformation are niche models such as convertibles and coupes

Because nobody knows when the drive transformation will fully take effect, the number of variants is being rigorously thinned out. First, it hits enthusiast cars such as convertibles, coupés and the Kombi / Shooting Brake, which is only in demand in Europe. The increasing higher positioning focuses on the SUV in all varieties. In America, large SUVs and fat pick-ups with the face of a barn door still get a hangover. But the global downsizing trend is clearly heading in the direction of streamlined, flatter e-crossovers in the style of the BMW iX. Starting next year, the next BMW 7 Series will be available with either a combustion engine or a battery drive, the following year the first Rolls Royce will follow without emissions. In addition to the EQS, Mercedes is using a very similar EQE in five-meter format, topped by a Maybach variant as a luxurious icing on the cake. Audi transforms the staid A8 into a whisper-quiet space glider with lounge character.

In the heyday of the Pirelli calendar, auto shows attracted their mostly male visitors with exotic and excesses – and with parallels to the red light district. In the Riemer exhibition halls, people are buttoned up today. There is nothing to be seen of high-performance cars garnished with scantily clad models. Instead, the new mantra of climate awareness is said and attention is paid to strict waste separation when recycling cars.

The exception is Porsche with the new GT3, flanked by the Taycan and Panamera, with a total of a good 1500 hp. But even Germany’s most famous sports car manufacturer is rethinking. The Taycan will be followed next year by the third generation of the then squeaky clean 718 Boxster, in whose slipstream the emission-free Cayman and the new 911 as a power hybrid (2023) will warm up. The 911-based Supercup racing series will switch from combustion to electric motors in 2024. The Mission R study shows what an extremely sporty two-seater with a peak output of up to 1088 hp could look like. At the same time, the Swabians are pushing their e-fuel offensive, because the 911 should be the last classic Porsche to stay true to the combustion engine for as long as possible.

BMW boss Oliver Zipse presents the BMW i Vision Circular.

(Photo: Tobias Schwarz / AFP)

In the thicket of stands and the slightly sterile art atmosphere of electromobility, digital services and virtual entertainment worlds, even the most important statements go largely unheard in the thicket of stands. BMW boss Oliver Zipse appears all in black in the Steve Jobs look. With the support of a female avatar – represented by the British influencer and podcast author Gemma Styles – he faces the dreary exhibition halls with a colorful comic Joytopia art world. The “New Class”, he proclaims, should end the tiresome discussion about technology openness not only at BMW. From 2025, a new 3-series will be launched on a purely electric basis. The combustion engine will not be eliminated in Munich anytime soon.

While Mercedes is feeding its customers with four-cylinder hybrids in the transition phase, the Munich-based company also wants to keep the straight-six attractive for as long as possible. A problem that concerns not only BMW, but the entire industry, concerns the question of when and from what hardware (cameras, lidar, radar) and the corresponding computing power must be available in the vehicle in order to be able to activate autonomous driving on day X. Assessment of Argo boss Bryan Salesky: “Level IV from 2025, for Level V I don’t yet know any serious forecast.”

France's Renault unveils a new family car under its lower cost Dacia brand

New size in the middle class: the Dacia Jogger transports up to seven passengers at an unbeatable entry-level price of just under 15,000 euros.

(Photo: Eric Gailllard / Reuters)

The Dacia Jogger, on the other hand, is firmly anchored in the here and now, replacing MCV and Lodgy, but at best travels through the country in hybrid form. In return, the seven-seater should again be a real bargain with a starting price of less than 15,000 euros. Renault, meanwhile, positions itself directly against the VW electric models. The new Megane dispenses with combustion engines and should offer a lot of range at an affordable price with a consumption of less than 13 kWh / 100 km. The fully electric new edition of the Renault R5 will also go into series production in 2024, promises the new company boss Luca de Meo. As the ex-Seat boss, he knows how difficult it will be to catch up with the VW group.

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