Wissmann: IAA impressive demonstration of automotive industry's innovative strength / Chancellor Merkel opens the world's most important trade fair for mobility

Frankfurt am Main/Berlin (ots) - "This IAA demonstrates the
automotive industry's capacity for untiring renewal and innovation:
Over 1,000 exhibitors have displays, covering an area equal to 33
football pitches. A total of 183 world premieres await 800,000
visitors, and more than 11,000 journalists from over 90 countries are
reporting on the world's most important trade fair for mobility. The
IAA is the automotive industry's 'crystal ball': here people can see,
in a concentrated form, both the present and the future of mobility,"
stressed Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of
the Automotive Industry (VDA), at the opening of the IAA in Frankfurt
am Main. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the 64th IAA Cars at
a ceremony attended by numerous high-ranking guests from politics,
business and society.

The slogan of this IAA - "Future comes as standard" - makes it
clear, Wissmann said, that at this leading trade fair not only
vehicle concepts are being presented, but also cars that would soon
be seen as series models on the roads: "Progress and its inherent
dynamism are like gravity: simply not negotiable," Wissmann stated.
He added that over the last five years the German automotive industry
had invested nearly 100 billion euro in progress and in the year 2010
alone it had applied for over 3,000 new patents in Germany. "In order
to see the results of this creativity, you do not have to visit the
Patent Office, but the IAA," he continued. A large proportion of the
innovation came from the suppliers, he explained, who account for 75
per cent of the value-added in a car.

"Manufacturers and suppliers together characterise the unique
innovative strength of our industry. And we are not the only people
who think so. In a recent study by Ernst & Young, foreign automotive
managers selected Germany as the world's most attractive automotive
location. That had not only to do with drive for innovation, but also
with quality and productivity," the VDA president emphasised.

Wissmann recalled that in the years 2008 and 2009 the "management
and works councils, the trade union IG Metall and the VDA, all
pulling together, plus the well-directed support from the German
Government," with the extension of short-time working, had been
crucial in overcoming the crisis. "Let us continue writing this
history together," he said. The recovery had also arrived in the
workforce: today the automotive industry employs 724,100 people in
Germany, which is over 18,000 more than it did last year. The VDA
President also drew Chancellor Merkel's attention to the political
promise in the coalition agreement, of keeping mobility affordable.
"This earns you particular recognition from motorists."

"We do not just talk - we deliver," Wissmann said regarding the
successes in CO2 reduction. Four years ago the passenger cars newly
registered in Germany had an average CO2 value of 170 grams per
kilometre, but two years ago the figure had already fallen to 154
grams. Wissmann stated, "Currently we are at 145 g CO2/km. This
corresponds to fuel consumption of 5.9 litres per 100 km." The German
group brands were able to show especially large progress. For
example, the CO2 values of the newly registered passenger cars from
German brands were, on average, lower than those of the competitors
in all ten segments.

"Here in Frankfurt we are demonstrating recipes for the future CO2
diet: the optimised classical internal combustion engine, hybrid
cars, plug-in vehicles and range extenders, plus 100-per-cent
battery-powered electric vehicles and vehicles with fuel cells,"
Wissmann stressed. For the first time, he added, the IAA has a hall
dedicated to the entire value-added chain for electric mobility. "So
you are - if you like - also at the largest electric mobility fair in
the world," the VDA president explained.

Concerning the situation on the financial markets Wissmann said:
"We have not yet come through the crisis and the financial markets
still look as though they are ailing. However, real life ensures
relief. 2011 is turning into an automotive year. The global market
will expand this year to over 65 million passenger cars sold, which
is 10 million more than two years ago and a new record. The forecast
for the year 2020 is 90 million passenger cars world-wide!"

The automotive business was currently in the process of returning
to normal, Wissmann said. "This is not a new development. But in my
understanding of economics, there is a huge difference between
'decreasing dynamism' and false talk of 'recession'," he emphasised,
adding that the greatest concern was the debt situation in the USA
and some European countries. "These 'loans' taken out on the present
and the future have to be eliminated in a credible manner and under
strong leadership. If the international scourge of debt can be
overcome, confidence in the stability of the financial markets will
return. The German Government has our support, if it consistently
supports the European idea and our common currency, and
simultaneously consistently pushes through a European debt limit."
Only with a strong manufacturing sector, with a strong industrial
base, could the challenges in Germany and Europe be mastered, he
stated. "The financial markets have to serve the manufacturing sector
again. Computer-aided high frequency trading and non- transparent
financial products demand a comprehensive 'renaturation,' i.e. global
regulation of this sector. And one thing must definitely apply if
Europe wishes to maintain its place in global competition. Not the
weakest get to set the standards, but the most innovative and the
best," Wissmann underlined.

The IAA's Trade Days are on 15 and 16 September, and the 64th IAA
Cars is open to the general public from 17 to 25 September 2011.
Further information is available online, at: www.iaa.de .

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