Industry organization VDA declared the inaugural IAA mobility motor exhibition in Munich, which ended on Sunday, a success. “Over 400,000 people in only six days is a clear vote with their feet,” said Hildegard Müller, head of the VDA. The VDA said that two-thirds of visitors were under the age of 40, suggesting that the new concept of incorporating all modes of personal transportation rather than simply automobiles had paid off.
According to tagesschau.de, 560,000 people attended the 2019 pre-Corona event. During the show’s last weekend, 13,500 people in Munich marched to the streets or joined a bicycle demonstration to protest the auto industry’s lack of climate action. They also object to the fact that the trade show is organized entirely by the VDA and continues to be overly focused on automobiles, according to tagesschau.de.
The event, which took place only weeks before Germany’s general election, put the emphasis on the difficult shift to sustainable mobility. The battle against climate change has emerged as one of the most contentious subjects in the German election campaign, with the transition to zero-emission mobility emerging as one of the most divisive concerns. In order to keep up with the times, the IAA was relocated from Frankfurt to Munich.
The fair’s focus changed away from vehicles and toward future low-emission mobility, such as bicycles and buses. In Germany, the shift to green transportation is particularly delicate because the automobile sector directly employs over 800,000 people.