The IAA is Dead. Long Live IAA Mobility!

The IAA Mobility promised to showcase the future of mobility so that it can be experienced hands-on and discussed live and on-site. For the first time in Munich, more than 1,000 exhibitors and speakers presented their latest innovations and concepts. For a week, IAA Mobility turned Munich into a global center for the mobility of the future. A so-called Blue Lane connected the fair with the inner city, where mobility concepts and solutions were presented at various locations, where people had the opportunity to interact with some of the world’s biggest brands.

But did the event deliver its promise of focusing on not just electrification, but mobility as a whole? Did the IAA live up to its reputation of being the go-to event for the industry and curious consumers alike? We spoke to a handful of industry experts who experienced the event first hand to get their thoughts on the 2021 edition of the event. Here's what they had to say:

Kirstin Hegner, Managing Director at Digital Hub Mobility Munich
For me, the IAA Mobility symbolizes the real change in the mobility industry. Open Space, Blue Lane and Summit stand for this change. However, in my view, the city of Munich should have packed its program into the IAA event and not keep a separate agenda.

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Dr. Nari Kahle, Head of Strategic Programs and Author of the recently released Book: “Mobilität in Bewegung” (‘Mobility in Motion’)
I was particularly impressed by the Citizens Lab at this year's IAA in the middle of Munich's Marienplatz. There, we talked about mobility together with the citizens - about mobility types, preferences, sustainability, opportunities and especially about our common future!

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Julica Hauke, Managing Director at Grabarz & Partner
It’s amazing what happens if you change the framework conditions of something that is an over 120 year old institution. The last years have already shown that the exponential changes of new mobility change contents, appearances & of course topics. But I love the new creativity that the open space adds to the IAA mobility.

With a complete different audience, brands have to develop new concepts to not only present their mobility solutions, but also the brand itself – in an urban surrounding. You could feel the creativity in the stand design, the program and even the cars presented by the brands – which mainly have been electric solutions!

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Merlin Ouboter, Managing Director & CMO at Microlino
The IAA Mobility was a huge success for us. I really liked how they gave more importance to upcoming new players like us, in promoting them with a good location in the halls as well as inviting them to panels and interviews.

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Mariska Matadin, Global Business Development Manager Data, Smart Cities & Mobility at Bridgestone EMIA
For me, the best part of the IAA Mobility was to experience mobility from different avenues. A place where startups - enterprises - professionals and public visitors could meet and share experiences on touchpoints like digitization, the future of mobility design, and the performance of smart cities. Additional, engaging young talents with innovative business is legitimately important. There are a lot of advantages concerning mobility in general, but the event transfers it into real engagement and builds momentum together!

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Andrew Santos, Co-Founder at MOTION Magazine
‍It was fantastic to finally be able to attend an event in person once again. The chance to have met colleagues and partners was definitely breath of fresh air. For us at MOTION, it was also a great opportunity to see some of the cars and smart mobility products we have been writing about this past year. On a personal note, I was very happy to see how automotive electrification and smarter mobility truly take center stage. I hope the organizers find more ways to really integrate the two in the coming years.

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