IAA: Speech by Matthias Wissmann President of the Automobile Industry Association (VDA) on the occasion of the opening of the 63rd “IAA PKW” (International Automobile Exhibition – Private Vehicles)
IAA: Speech by Matthias Wissmann President of the Automobile Industry Association (VDA) on the occasion of the opening of the 63rd “IAA PKW” (International Automobile Exhibition – Private Vehicles) on the 17th September 2009 in Frankfurt
Dear Chancellor, dear Angela Merkel,
dear Commissioner for Transport Tajani,
dear Premier, dear Roland Koch,
dear ministers from the Federal States of Germany,
dear Mayor, Ms. Roth,
your Excellencies,
ladies and gentlemen, members of parliament,
dear State Secretaries,
dear members of the presidium and of the board of the VDA,
ladies and gentlemen, my dear friends of the automobile,
and, most especially, dear highly-esteemed exhibitors,
let me welcome you here in Frankfurt on the occasion of the
63rd International Automobile Exhibition.
I would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to our German Chancellor Frau Merkel. We are so happy that you are able to be here. Now this IAA comes upon us in particularly turbulent economic times. We have experienced the biggest slump in the global economy since 1945. Almost exactly one year ago to the day the Lehman Brothers Bank went into total collapse. The automobile markets have also been sucked into the whirlpool of the financial crisis. This year we will have to reckon with a worldwide shrinkage of demand of between 10 and 15 percent.
However, we are given hope by the first green shoots of recovery in the world economy. A plateau of firm ground is at last possible to perceive amongst the worldwide automobile markets. For a nation which exports three of four private vehicles it produces – this is a matter of major significance.
Dear Madam Chancellor, the Federal government led by you is playing a role of crucial assistance in terms of alleviating the consequences of the critical situation. Here I would in particular like to refer to the measures for the support of the banking sector and the two economic stimulus packages which the Coalition has launched. As exemplary in this respect I would especially like to single out the extended short-time working benefit and the lessening of the burden of social contributions. Here you really are giving us backup to the greatest extent possible in the attainment of our goal, even in difficult times, to hold onto our core workforce.
Economics and politics must fight in unison towards the goal of recovery. We must all of us pull in the same direction when it comes to issues like education, transport policies and labor market policies. Because every seventh workplace in Germany has a direct or indirect connection to automobiles. Why, dear Madam Chancellor, it is only a few days ago that you pointed out in your video message the enormous significance which the automobile business is for our country. T must be our mutual goal: Germany must remain a strong industrial country and the country of individual and affordable mobility!
I also welcome most sincerely the commissioner for Transport of the European Union, Antonio Tajani. On the transport policy front the EU has made an enormous contribution to the process of increasing cohesion in Europe. And at this moment, with the future in mind, we particularly need concerted European economic and environmental policies.
Dear Premier, Roland Koch, Hessen is not only one of the economically strongest States of Germany but also, on account of its size, a prime example of the necessity for individual mobility and, above all, it has also for decades been our reliable partner state for the International Automobile Exhibition. You yourself are frequently involved in questions to do with the automobile industry and the tireless efforts of yourself and your staff on behalf of our industry are sincerely appreciated. A big and heartfelt thank you for standing so closely shoulder to shoulder with us over many, many years. There really is no substitute for Hessen!
A warm welcome also goes to our hostess here in Frankfurt am Main. Madam Mayor, Dr. Roth. You are our hostess in two ways - not only in the person of Lord Mayor, but also as the Chairperson of the supervisory board of “Messe Frankfurt”. In the planning and preparations for this exhibition you are a guarantee that again and again, and I am sure in times to come as well, we are always made to feel truly at home here in Frankfurt. Therefore, my thanks to you, not only personally but especially on behalf of the exhibitors.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the IAA is, and remains, despite the crisis, this year, as ever, THE meeting place par excellence for the national and international automobile world. And it is indeed true that no automobile show in the world is as “international” as the IAA:
781 exhibitors from 30 countries, 62 of them automobile manufacturers, exhibiting their newest products. The exhibition area of 190,000 square meters significantly exceeds our expectations. Over the coming one and a half weeks 14,000 journalists from 90 countries will be reporting from this major event. We are expecting visitor numbers in excess of 750,000 on the Frankfurt exhibition site.
With exactly 100 world premières of new cars, 55, more than half of them, from Germany, we have even beaten our own previous IAA record of two years ago. In addition to this there are 87 premières from automobile component suppliers, 53 of them being German companies. This underlines the innovative power of this branch of the industry. Our spirit of inventiveness shows no evidence of being dented by any crisis!
Even if the main focus of attraction for visitors is naturally directed towards the finished product we should on no account forget that: three quarters of the value creation of an automobile depends on the services of the component supply industry. It is thanks to a host of inventions from these predominantly medium-sized think tanks that make our cars are safer, more convenient and more environmentally friendly. The automobile industry is, in this sense of the word, certainly not an “old” business but reveals itself, here in Frankfurt, to be younger and more creative than ever before.
There are two things which I find especial heart-warming: for one thing, this time in Frankfurt we are playing host to numerous companies which, despite the difficult times, are represented at the IAA for the very first time, and amongst them there are even the manufacturers of exclusive sports cars. This reflects the basic spirit which is the special significance of the IAA:
A second reason for me to rejoice is because we have already had reservations from more than 550 teachers who will be visiting the show with 11,000 pupils. This shows just how ongoing the curiosity of the younger generation is when it comes to all aspects to do with the world of cars. I can promise teachers, pupils, and indeed all visitors one thing in particular. There is an extremely exciting IAA out there just waiting for you, you will learn a lot, discover a lot and enjoy some new experiences, and I absolutely assure you: NO ONE of you will go home disappointed!
Ladies and gentlemen,
the automobile industry is not one which just leans back in an armchair and waits for the crisis to pass by. In the last year the German manufacturers and component suppliers have spent a good 19 billion Euros alone on research and development, a good part of this devoted to sustainability and the protection of resources. No branch of industry invests more in terms of headcounts in this country, in the next generation of workers, in their own future. This enormous sum of 19 billion Euros will, in all likelihood, be even further exceeded this year, even in this year of crisis! This makes me confident that we will emerge from the crisis even stronger than we went into it. A wealth of ideas and loads of confidence – these are the buzzwords for this 63rd IAA.
Ladies and gentlemen,
even two years ago sustainable mobility was a major issue at the IAA. Many of the drafts and visions of that time are already taken for granted and are up and running on our roads today. Now we have once again taken a gigantic step forwards: the range of environmentally friendly engines expands every day. We are exhibiting the very latest in developments amongst the Mild Hybrid and Full Hybrid models. We are exhibiting the plug-in electric car which “fills up” on a plug socket. Nonetheless, we all know that the electric car cannot become a mass product overnight, and yet important milestones on the long road ahead can be seen here today at the IAA.
We are also presenting new automobiles with gas-drive and fuel cell drive. And a range of manufacturers from Germany, Europe, America and Asia have just reached agreement on a concerted effort to promote vehicles with environmentally friendly hydrogen drives
Even with conventional engines we are able to discover ever newer efficiency potentials. In the Clean Diesel and the petroleum engine with electronic direct injection it is already possible to travel a hundred kilometers on less than four liters of gasoline.
Models from the major German brands are frontrunners here. This year they are running ahead of the competition at average CO2 emissions in nine out of ten vehicle segments. The figures come from a neutral source at the Federal Motor Transport Authority in Flensburg.
As early as 2007 I was already talking to you about a “green IAA”. Compared to then, I think I can safely say that the IAA has become even “greener”!
As President of the Association of the German Automobile Industry I would however like to make the observation: in other countries the quality of our products, including their environmental quality, often receives much more recognition than from professional skeptics here in our home country. This can be observed via increases in market shares in important regions of the globe. Not that this should be misunderstood: our observers and critics are a daily stimulus for us to become still better. However, we do also expect a little fairness when the day of judgment comes. There is unfortunately a disastrous tendency to speak ill or to write ill of the attainments of one’s own country.
Let me be a little more concrete: emissions on new models have reduced, since the beginning of the 90’s, by a fabulous 98 percent. 98 percent!
Or let’s take a look at the car with combined gasoline and electrical engine. Just recently the first premium vehicle “made in Germany” and equipped with just such a hybrid drive “cracked the barrier into” the strict Japanese Eco-norm category. This model is now entitled to tax reductions for particularly clean vehicles.
At the same time, however, the systems which make driving even safer are becoming ever more well-engineered and sophisticated. Brake assistants, knee-airbags, active curve lights, distance cruise controls, pedestrian protection – there is no detail in which there are not some new revisions to latch onto!
Inventions and further developments which are on show at this exhibition are evidence of one thing in particular: They are evidence of just how great the power of innovation is throughout this entire branch of business – particularly in such difficult times. This business understands how to link such criteria such as performance and driving enjoyment with an ecological conscience. These are the kind of innovative strengths we can be proud of!
Afterwards, when you get a chance to walk around the exhibition site, you will be able to see proof of the true scale of progress which manufacturers have been able to achieve in only two years since the last IAA. I am prepared to bet that you will have to wait ANOTHER two years to see such a variety of models and engines – in fact, until the next IAA!
Ladies and gentlemen
At this point allow me to put in a few words more on the issue of climate debate. Concerted action is an urgent necessity on this front. It is good that Europe should play a leading role at the cutting edge here. And it is the ambition of the German automobile industry to be world market leader in matters of environmentally friendly mobility. The next, and extremely important, event on this calendar is the World Climate Summit in Copenhagen. However, European ambition must not mean that special burdens are brought to bear on industry in Europe which are not also being shouldered in other parts of the globe. In the case of climate and environmental protection the rules of the game must be such that we are ecological and economical winners in all parts of the world.
Of one thing we can, however, be certain: on a worldwide basis the significance of individual mobility will not decrease, but rather increase. Whilst the industrialized countries retain their automobile requirements, the emerging markets will be catching up. More cars in China or India – but this must not mean less climate and environmental protection. If what this means is the development of cars with lower emissions to live up to this great challenge then we Germans want to be amongst the avant-garde.
Ladies and gentlemen,
just as earlier crises did little to dampen the enthusiasm of our business the age of individual mobility will not come to an end after this crisis - and the enjoyment of driving will emerge reinvigorated. Difficult times do not represent a stop sign when it comes to innovations – quite the contrary: we shall continue to develop and supply highly attractive cars. We shall continue to prove that sustainability and the enjoyment of driving are not a contradiction.
The high number of exhibitors, the uninterrupted interest on the part of visitors and the multitude of innovations show: that the IAA remains the leading exhibition for mobility and the IAA is a location built on reliability, but on visions too. In times of uncertainty the exhibition provides urgently needed orientation for manufacturers, component suppliers and for our customers.
The IAA will signal an age of a new dimension, a signal which will reverberate far beyond the bounds of the exhibition itself. Because I am convinced: this business has a great future ahead of it. The enjoyment of mobility will suffer no recession!
“See now what will move tomorrow” was the motto of the IAA two years ago. We want to link this to the motto “Experience what moves”: When it comes to automobiles, what was still a vision yesterday is reality today. I can say with great pride: We make big promises to mankind in terms of safety, sustainability, quality, convenience and performance – and we keep our word! Now take a look at our IAA, and see for yourself!
Many thanks for your attention.
The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.
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