German Chancellor opens world's most important trade fair for mobility - comprehensive walking tour / Merkel: Innovation is visible here at the IAA

Frankfurt am Main/Berlin (ots) - "Innovation - it is visible here
at the IAA. The National Platform for Electric Mobility has done a
good job. We have also provided incentives that we hope will get
electric mobility in Germany moving, without creating a long-lasting
culture of subsidies, e.g. the ten-year exemption from motor-vehicle
tax for everyone buying an electric car before the end of 2015, the
introduction of transferable plates for second cars - so that users
save an insurance premium - special parking areas and much more
besides. I would like to thank the automotive industry for its
excellent co-operation in this National Platform. We had to make
large strides towards one another, and some things remain to be done,
but I think here it has been shown that joint, coherent action by
politicians and business pays off," stressed German Chancellor Angela
Merkel. She was speaking to numerous high-ranking guests from
business, politics, trade unions and society at the opening ceremony
of the 64th IAA Cars in Frankfurt am Main.

New powertrain technologies could be seen at the IAA, the Federal
Chancellor said. "The requirements of the Federal Government and the
European Union for reducing emissions always serve climate
protection. But we also have a principle: everyone should still have
the freedom to choose the car that suits them best. It is up to the
customer to decide which powertrain and which model. Mobility was, is
and will remain an expression of individuality. That is also the
basic principle guiding our actions. For this reason I am also
emphasising, in view of some objectively incorrect criticism, that
the Consumption Labelling Ordinance brings us more transparency and
provides an overview of differences in efficiency within a particular
class. Comparisons between different classes are not what this is
about. That has to be stated once again very clearly," the Chancellor
continued. After the ceremonial opening of the 64th IAA Cars, there
followed the traditional walking tour of the exhibition. Chancellor
Merkel was accompanied by Matthias Wissmann, President of the German
Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), Federal Minister of
Transport Peter Ramsauer, State Premier of Hesse Volker Bouffier,
Frankfurt's Mayor Petra Roth and numerous high-ranking
representatives of the automotive industry.

Angela Merkel entered Hall 11, the first stop on her walking tour,
in a flurry of flashing cameras of the many photographers and camera
teams present. Here she was welcomed by Norbert Reithofer, Chief
Executive Officer of BMW AG. Reithofer showed the Chancellor the i3
Concept in particular, a 100-per-cent electric vehicle that will be
launched onto the market in 2013 and assembled in the plant at
Leipzig. Chancellor Merkel sat in the front passenger seat and
praised the its "good feel" and the light touch of the doors.

In Hall 9 Bernhard Mattes, Chairman at Ford of Germany, received
the Federal Chancellor and guided her to the red Evos Concept coupé
study. The hybrid car gives onlookers a concrete view of the first
globally oriented design philosophy for future generations of
vehicles from Ford. The first models embodying major design elements
of the Evos will already be on the market at the beginning of 2012.
In Hall 8 Karl-Friedrich Stracke, Chairman of the Management Board of
Adam Opel AG, presented the Opel Ampera, the first series-built car
with a range extender which, according to Stracke, will become
available on the market in November. The Chancellor's next stop was
the Bosch stand in Hall 8. Franz Fehrenbach, Chairman of the Board of
Management of Robert Bosch GmbH, explained to her the many different
innovation steps that Bosch is taking to reduce CO2 by the
application of electric mobility.

Chancellor Merkel made a conscious decision to visit the "Hall of
Electric Mobility" (Hall 4.0), with the first-ever display on the
entire value-added chain for the electric mobility ecosystem. At the
Streetscooter stand she was welcomed by Arndt G. Kirchhoff, member of
the VDA Managing Board and Managing Director of the Kirchhoff Group,
and Prof. Achim Kampker of the RWTH Aachen University.

Kirchhoff drew attention to the successful co-operation between
innovative suppliers and academia, and Prof. Kampker explained the
Streetscooter - an electric car study with a range of up to 130
kilometres designed to be a city vehicle - and added that the German
Post had already commissioned its development. Customers could buy
the electric car, he said, but the battery was not included in the
purchase price. Instead it would be leased as part of a service
package.

John Elkann, President of the Fiat Group, explained to Ms Merkel
the new Fiat Panda model generation. The most important component in
the powertrain is the new two-cylinder petrol engine (TwinAir), which
is used in various versions.

At the Schaeffler Group stand (Hall 5.1) Maria-Elisabeth
Schaeffler and Jürgen Geissinger, Chief Executive of the Schaeffler
Group, welcomed the Federal Chancellor and explained the optimisation
potentials exploited in the company's components for classical
powertrains, hybrids and electric vehicles.

In Audi's pavilion erected especially for the IAA 2011 Rupert
Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management at Audi AG, showed the
Chancellor the Audi A2 Concept, an electric car with an extremely
lightweight construction. He explained that the vehicle can "fill up"
on electrical energy by induction, which does not need a charging
cable. Furthermore, the Audi range included the Q5, A6 and A8 hybrid
vehicles, which meant that 100-per-cent electric driving was already
possible for distances of up to three kilometres.

In Hall 3 Prof. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of
Management of Volkswagen AG, presented to Angela Merkel Volkswagen's
world premiere, the VW up!, a nippy small car for urban driving with
space for four people and a purchase price that will be in the four-
figure range. At Porsche, also in Hall 3, the company's Management
Board Chairman Matthias Müller showed the Federal Chancellor the
world premiere of the Porsche 911 and pointed out its much lower fuel
consumption compared to the current model.

The Chancellor's walking tour ended with a visit to the
"Festhalle," where Ms Merkel was welcomed by Dieter Zetsche, Chairman
of the Board of Management of Daimler AG. Zetsche showed her the
research vehicle F125!, a look at the technology of the more distant
future. He also explained to Ms Merkel the various powertrain options
for the new B-Class: the classical internal combustion engine, range
extenders, and fuel cells. Zetsche drew attention to the relatively
low-cost investment in the infrastructure for hydrogen. After the
tour, the German Chancellor said she was impressed by the drive for
innovation at the German manufacturers and suppliers.

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