As IAA took over Munich 400,000 said to have engaged
The IAA Mobility show’s quite deliberate plan to involve the citizens of Munich in its broader future mobility concept has apparently seen 400,000 people engage in various ways with the event.
Far from confined to the Messe Munchen convention centre, the expanded mobility concept set up shop in the heart of Munich city centre, constructing in a very short period of time an interactive and largely unavoidable festival showcasing the latest ideas from automotive, cycling and micromobility manufacturers. The city based element made up 65,000 sq metres of prime space.
According to the organisers the final numbers were:
- 744 exhibitors in a combined 260,000 sq metres of exhibition space
- 95 nationalities in some form of attendance
- 936 speakers from across various industries
- 67% of visitors aged under 40
- 75 bicycle brands signed to debut event, including the likes of Bosch, Specialized, R&M and Canyon
- 78 start up businesses
- 152 supply firms
- 3,500 journalists
“We took a courageous step and were rewarded by the visitors,” said Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), which organized the first IAA Mobility this year jointly with Messe München.
“400,000 participants in only six days are a clear case of ‘voting with their feet.’ The visitors were evidently very interested in and delighted by the whole experience. The IAA Mobility is now the largest mobility event in the world. New electric cars, bicycles, e-scooters, energy policies and urban planning, digitization and more – here in Munich we presented and discussed what needs to be thought together in the future. At the IAA Conference, we also experienced lively discussions on the path to the new mobility. The exhibitors unveiled more than 100 premieres of their latest models and concepts, underscoring the fact that the transformation of mobility is being driven forward toward climate neutrality and digitisation.”
Last week, Executive Director, Business Unit Consumer Goods Messe München, Tobias Gröber, urged the various industries to come closer toward a common goal of developing workable mobility solutions for the future, stating that ‘enemy images’ of bikes vs cars “will not get us anywhere.”
In this same statement he addressed some early feedback from the first time cycling and light mobility brands in attendance that many wished to integrate further into both the B2B and B2C elements of the event, rather than having such a defined separation.
“The new IAA Mobility is a strong signal to the world that international exhibitions in Germany are now possible again,” said Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München. “We can hold such major events safely; the safety and hygiene concept has worked outstandingly well. The exhibitors and visitors have kept to the rules and shown a lot of understanding.”
When compared to the Frankfurt events of old, it is tallied that the Munich evolution drew 32% more visitation, despite the ongoing Covid complications.
The next IAA Mobility will be held in Munich from September 5 to 10, 2023.
