The 63rd International Motor Show (IAA) will be organised by the VDA, from 17 to 27 September 2009 in Frankfurt (am Main).

The focus is on innovations in electric vehicles and classic drive systems.

Wissmann: IAA presents itself as the world's most important mobility fair

Berlin/Frankfurt am Main, 11 June 2009. Measured in terms of the number of exhibitors and the space occupied, the IAA continues to be the world's most important mobility trade fair. No other trade fair presents the entire value chain of manufacturers and suppliers as comprehensively as the IAA, emphasised Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), at the presentation of the new IAA poster in Berlin. The 63rd International Motor Show (IAA) Cars is organised by the VDA and will take place in Frankfurt am Main from 17 to 27 September 2009.

Despite the difficult global economic environment, the VDA President was convinced that this IAA will once again be a success: "Because this IAA, which will be opened by Chancellor Merkel on 17 September, will offer an impressive firework display of innovations and will be a trade fair of those who will shape the future and emerge stronger from the crisis. Only here will visitors find answers to the challenges of the crisis.

A total of 700 exhibitors, including more than 60 automobile manufacturers from all over the world, will present their world novelties at the IAA. The area occupied will be 170,000 square metres. However, due to the global economic conditions, different standards are to be applied to this IAA 2009; a purely quantitative approach, as was usual in previous years, makes little sense. Wissmann: "The focus of the IAA will rather be on its quality: The IAA is the leading international trade fair for automobility. This is where the answers to today's requirements and tomorrow's challenges are given. That is why this year there is a particularly strong presence of those companies that are facing up to this competition of innovations. Wissmann emphasised: "We are convinced that the IAA 2009 is taking place at the right time in the right place. We assume that in September it will be clear when the crisis has bottomed out or even bottomed out. And with its new products the German automotive industry is showing the way out of the crisis.

The further optimisation of the classic drive types, clean diesel and highly charged petrol engines with direct injection, will be on show at the IAA, as will progress in the electrification of the automobile, from mild hybrids to passenger cars with purely electric drives. In addition to the consistent further reduction of consumption and thus CO2 emissions, the focus is on new types of assistance systems that make driving even safer and more comfortable.

The new IAA motto "Experience what moves" takes up the guiding principle of sustainable mobility, which had already characterised the IAA 2007, and continues it consistently. Wissmann emphasised: "Over the past two years we have consistently implemented this strategy and significantly reduced the CO2 emissions of our new vehicles. In 2007 CO2 emissions fell by a total of 2 per cent, and in 2008 by 3 per cent. And this trend is continuing in the current year. According to Wissmann, the German manufacturers have already achieved greater reductions than the importers in the last two years in important segments, for example in the medium class.

Wissmann emphasised: "Many of the things that were still dreams of the future two years ago are already in the production planning stage or will be on our roads this month, such as the first series-produced luxury-class hybrid with a lithium-ion battery.

Even though the optimised combustion engine will continue to dominate the global market in the long term, the increasing importance of electric mobility was clearly recognisable at this IAA.

The development of electric vehicles is progressing in leaps and bounds. Wissmann: All German manufacturers are working intensively on the subject. Daimler will deliver the first of 100 electric Smarts for the e-mobility Berlin project before the end of this year, and shares in the electric sports car manufacturer Tesla were also recently acquired. The BMW Group already has around 500 MINI-Es on the streets of Los Angeles and New York in test runs. In the London/Oxford region in England, an e-mobility project is also on the cards for this year; in Berlin, another 50 MINI E will be handed over in the next few weeks.

In addition, a test run of the electric MINI is also planned in Munich. Volkswagen will also be showing pioneering concepts on the subject of zero emissions and ultra-low consumption combustion engines at the IAA. Opel will present the Ampera, Ford will come with the Tourneo Connect BEV. The list of car manufacturers exhibiting at the IAA in the field of electric vehicles currently includes more than 20 companies. A number of supplier companies will also be presenting their innovations in the field of electric mobility, including Bosch, Clean Mobile, Continental Automotive, EBM-Papst, Li-Tec and ZF.

The IAA motto thus underlines the claim of the world's most important mobility trade fair: "IAA visitors will be able to experience what ensures sustainable mobility today. And at the same time, of course, they will also see what moves the automotive future, explained the VDA President. Experiencing what moves appeals to all the senses: Cars are not only to be looked at, but also to be touched, tried out, felt and touched, thus underlining the emotionality and fascination that emanates from new models.

The new IAA poster conveys this message precisely. Wissmann emphasised: "It connects people and engines, the driver and the vehicle, the city and the country, and with the green tones in the foreground and the white-blue sky, the ecological component and climate protection are taken into account. The skyline in the background stands for the city of Frankfurt and is a reference to the IAA location. The IAA poster itself is also an innovation: it is the first motif in the history of the IAA ever to be based on a photograph - the car is not shown as an object, but in its contours. The hands make it clear: it is the human being who gives the car its contour, its shape. The fact that the two hands are virtually embracing a car that is also rolling on the road stands for this approach, which also symbolises the care with which we develop and produce our cars, says Wissmann.

Following a call for tenders, the VDA board had unanimously decided on this motif, which was designed by the Berlin-based agency WeDo. It is ideally suited for large posters as well as for the website and the IAA letterhead and will be present on the website www.iaa.de with immediate effect.