IAA opens with 1,012 exhibitors and 183 world premieres - many models already "in motion" / Wissmann: Curtain up on the world's most important trade fair for mobility!

Frankfurt am Main/Berlin (ots) - "As the world's most important
trade fair for mobility, the IAA offers a unique programme including
183 world premieres. The automotive manufacturers alone are
presenting 89 world premieres. Over half of them, 45 in fact, are
from German group brands. And the suppliers have 94 world premieres
here. In total, 1,012 exhibitors from 32 countries are present at the
64th IAA Cars; in the last week five more smaller stands have been
added. This means that we have far more than at the IAA 2009 (781
exhibitors), and have almost matched the large number at the IAA
2007, which took place during a very buoyant economic phase. The
amount of exhibition space comes to 235,000 sq m and is a new
record," stressed Matthias Wissmann at the IAA's opening press
conference in Frankfurt am Main on Monday. The 64th International
Motor Show (IAA) Cars will be officially opened on 15 September by
the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Around 10,000 journalists from
over 90 countries have already been accredited for the two Press Days
(13 and 14 September) with around 90 press conferences. Following the
two Trade Days (15 and 16 September), the IAA will be open to the
general public from 17 to 25 September. The slogan of the IAA 2011 is
"Future comes as standard".

"The IAA is the automotive trade show that elicits the greatest
media response anywhere in the world. It will be visited by
high-ranking politicians: apart from Ms Merkel, we expect German
cabinet ministers including Federal Minister of Economy Philipp
Rösler and Federal Minister of Transport Peter Ramsauer. Five German
state premiers have announced they will attend, including - of course
- Volker Bouffier who will continue the tradition of Hessian state
premiers speaking at the IAA's opening ceremony. The state premiers
Kurt Beck (Rhineland-Palatinate), Winfried Kretschmann
(Baden-Württemberg), David McAllister (Lower Saxony) and Annegret
Kramp-Karrenbauer (Saarland), will also be present," Wissmann said.
Petra Roth, Mayor of Frankfurt am Main, will also speak at the IAA
opening ceremony. The European Union will be represented by EU
Commissioner Günther Oettinger. India's Heavy Industries Minister
Praful Patel will be here, and from the United Kingdom Mark Prisk,
Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, is also planning to
attend.

The IAA is traditionally also a meeting place for Formula 1 racing
drivers. According to our current information, Sebastian Vettel (Red
Bull), Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg (both Mercedes GP), and
Adrian Sutil (Force India) will come to the IAA. In addition, racing
legends Jacky Ickx, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Walter Röhrl are planning
to visit.

Wissmann pointed out that for many weeks the exhibiting companies
have been busy constructing their stands. This was especially true of
the new Audi pavilion on the Agora, the conversion of the "Festhalle"
by Daimler, BMW's elaborate set-up in Hall 11, and many other stands.
The exhibitors have employed a total of over 15,000 people to prepare
and staff their presentations at the world's most important
automotive trade show.

"All this serves one goal, i.e. showing visitors to the IAA the
most exciting innovations in the world offered by this industry in a
fascinating and unique setting. At the IAA we can see - and this also
sets Frankfurt apart from all other trade fairs - not only all the
important automotive manufacturers, but all the important large and
medium-sized suppliers who are also becoming increasingly active
globally and account for three quarters of the value-added associated
with automobiles," Wissmann emphasised.

However, he continued, this IAA is different from its predecessors
in one special respect: "Never before has there been an IAA where so
many cars can be seen 'in motion'. One might call it the 'IAA in
motion'," the VDA president said. As examples he mentioned BMW's
driving activities in Hall 11 and on open-air site F11, and the Audi
circuit in the pavilion. Ford offers visitors a test circuit to the
south of Hall 9, where IAA guests can also get behind the wheel
themselves. In addition to the Festhalle (Hall 2), Daimler has its
open-air site with driving opportunities. Jeep has set up its "Camp
Jeep," its own off-road circuit on open-air site F12/F13. The
supplier Valeo is demonstrating the use of an automatic parking
sensor on open-air site F10.

The traditional IAA off-road circuit is located to the south-east
of Hall 10 (F13). A total of 24 four-wheel-drive vehicles are
awaiting visitors, including models from Daimler, Hyundai, Opel,
Skoda, SsangYong, Suzuki, Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen
Commercial Vehicles. Eleven different firms are offering "on-road"
test drives in their new models. So overall, a fleet of 200 vehicles
is available. Alongside Audi, Opel and Seat, there are Citroën,
Peugeot and Renault, plus Hyundai and Kia from South Korea and
Chevrolet. erdgas mobil GmbH and Valeo have six cars at the IAA. And
in front of Hall 4 (F4) there is another dozen electric vehicles
waiting to be taken out for a quiet drive.

Wissmann stressed, "Only the IAA presents the complete range of
powertrains, from optimised classical powertrains and hybridisation,
plug-in EVs and range extenders, all the way to the 100-per-cent
battery-powered electric car and vehicles with fuel cells." He said
that the "Hall of Electric Mobility" showcased the entire value-added
chain for these new types of powertrains - which was another unique
feature of the IAA.

The VDA, the organiser of the IAA and initiator of the "Hall of
Electric Mobility," was taking a new approach with this "electric
mobility ecosystem" - an approach supporting and complementing the
electric mobility activities of the exhibitors at their other stands.
"At the IAA we have in all over 20,000 sq m of exhibition space
dedicated to the topic of electric mobility. The IAA is thus also the
world's largest trade fair for electric mobility," the VDA president
underlined. Furthermore, the "Electric Mobility Congress" will be
held at the IAA on 21 September involving high-ranking guests and
organised by the VDA, in co-operation with other industry
associations (BDI, BDEW, Bitkom, VCI and ZVEI). Nearly 400
participants have registered to attend the congress, which means that
the event is already booked out.

Regarding the industry's second major future technology topic, the
networked car, on 22 September the VDA and Bitkom will hold the
"carIT" congress, which will examine the trends and priorities for
innovation in this important field. In total 25 specialist and
country-themed events will take place at the IAA, including an IAA
India Day, an IAA China Day, and a Slovakia Economics Day. The VDA
Design Award will also be presented at the IAA - for the fifth time.

The IAA has more events to encourage the upcoming generation than
any other comparable exhibition. They include the programme "GoIng"
aimed at children in their final years at grammar school and for
which almost 900 schoolchildren and their teachers have registered,
i.e. more than double the number that came in 2009. In parallel to
this, the programme entitled "WorkING" is for those already studying
at universities and colleges. Wissmann said, "Thirdly, we have a very
good number of registrations for the IAA schools' campaign: so far
over 18,000 schoolchildren have registered to come to the IAA with
their teachers. This, too, is a new record."

"Public interest at the IAA will naturally focus on the world
premieres. No other trade fair in the world offers such a glittering
display of innovations of this calibre," Wissmann underscored. They
include the Audi A2 Concept study with its electric powertrain, the
A5, the A6 Avant, the A8 Hybrid, the R8 Spyder GT and the Audi Urban
Concept. BMW is displaying its new BMW 1-Series, the BMW M5, the
6-Series Coupé, the Mini Coupé and the i3 and i8 Concept. Daimler is
presenting the new Mercedes-Benz B-Class, the new M-Class, the SLS
AMG Roadster, the SLK 250 CDI, the SLK 55 AMG, the smart fortwo
electric drive, the smart forvision and the research vehicle F125!.

Ford is also presenting several world premieres, headed up by the
Ford EVOS Concept Car, the Ford Focus ECOnetic, the production
version of the Ford Focus ST and the Ford Fiesta ST. Opel has world
premieres of the Opel Zafira Tourer, the Astra GTC and the Opel
Combo. It is also celebrating the German premiere of the Opel Ampera
- the first passenger car with a range extender - at the IAA.
Porsche's focus is the world premiere of its new Porsche 911 Carrera.
The company also has on display its new Panamera Diesel, the 911 GT3
RS 4.0 and the Porsche Cayman S Black Edition. Volkswagen is focusing
on the world premiere of its new small car VW up!. And the Beetle is
celebrating its European trade fair premiere. Furthermore, Volkswagen
is showing the NILS, an electric-powered research vehicle in the form
of a one-seater city car. The international manufacturers also have
many more premieres.

"The suppliers' innovations cover, in particular, the whole
transmission, alternative powertrains, lightweight construction -
that is, major contributions to further CO2 reduction," Wissmann
said, and mentioned a few examples: ZF will present a new 9-gear
automatic transmission at the IAA which offers potential fuel savings
of up to 16 per cent. Continental is marking the IAA by launching the
large series production of an electric motor destined for the
electric vehicle fleet of a European manufacturer. The production of
the highly efficient synchronous machine does not require rare earth
elements that are relatively costly and whose long-term availability
experts regard as critical. In addition, the company is presenting a
tyre with optimised rolling resistance that reduces fuel consumption
by 3 per cent.

For the first time the Schaeffler Group has its own 500 sq m stand
(with the slogan "efficient future mobility") at the IAA showing two
concept studies in this context. The exhibits called "Advanced Drive"
and "eSolutions" give visitors insights into the company's broad
product portfolio of energy-efficient, forward-looking mobility for
various types of powertrains.

And Bosch is demonstrating how to achieve total fuel savings of up
to 30 per cent with hybrid and downsizing concepts for classical
engines and energy-saving ancillary systems in the transmission. "The
suppliers are making just as much progress in battery development as
in the development of new driver-assistance systems, for instance
with a mid-range radar sensor suitable for emergency braking systems
in the medium and compact classes," Wissmann stated. Turning to the
expected number of visitors at the IAA, Wissmann said, "We expect a
strong IAA. We are confident that we will exceed the result from
2009. At that time, during the crisis, we had expected 750,000
visitors. But over 800,000 came. We are basing our expectations on
this figure. But first of all it is 'curtain up' to welcome the 90
world premieres at this most important trade fair for mobility!"

Contact:
Eckehart Rotter
VDA - Press Department
Tel.: +49 30 897842-120
Email: rotter@vda.de