The International Motor Show IAA, which this year bears the addition Mobility due to the integration of bicycles and yoga courses, is like none before.
Held for the first time in Munich instead of Frankfurt, it is presented in two parts: The part, which is aimed at the specialist audience, takes place in the fair in Riem.
The part that ensnares the private strollers is set up in different places like a fair in the city center.
That makes the fair without contours and removes it from the car fan, which can be felt in the poorly frequented halls.
The closeness to the audience in front of the attractive Munich backdrop certainly has its charm and should not fail to have an effect.
Regardless of where the visitor encounters the almost exclusively electrically powered exhibits, he will find evidence of the present and serious promises for the future that the industry has focused on the lowest possible and ever-decreasing environmental pollution. The protests by activists hit an industry that has long gone further than its opponents, who ignore technical progress. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder hits the spot when he says: “The whole world appreciates German cars. I wish that German cars would then also be valued in Germany. "
The auto industry is clearly doing its homework. In return, it deserves new trust and freedom of movement, in particular an openness to technology, as Chancellor Angela Merkel rightly emphasized in her opening speech. It is nonetheless an industry, so it thrives on production and sale. It is therefore also about other values of our society on an equal footing: prosperity, freedom, individual mobility and secure jobs. Just as CO2 does not stop at national borders, jobs do not stop when Germany is no longer a strong automotive location, Merkel warned. Its vitality is best preserved and promoted with emotional products that appeal to customers, in short with good cars. And once again with public applause for it.