HANNOVER, Germany—The message from a record-setting international trade fair devoted to commercial vehicles and innovation was loud and clear: It’s time for policymakers to put public money where their ambitious clean mobility goals are.
“IAA Transportation has powerfully demonstrated that our industry is actively driving the shift toward climate-neutral solutions through investment and innovation. We have already brought to market climate-neutral solutions to address the industry’s various challenges,” VDA President Hildegard Müller, the biennial event organizer, emphasized. “The biggest obstacle to a swift and widespread adoption of climate-neutral drives is the necessary infrastructure—especially in terms of charging and forward-thinking grid expansion, as well as hydrogen refueling stations.
“All relevant stakeholders must now be held accountable, with a clear roadmap, regular monitoring, and opportunities for adjustments. To make significant progress here, Berlin and Brussels need to establish an infrastructure initiative and implement it as quickly as possible.”
A Mercedes-Benz eActros 600, the newly crowned International Truck of the Year, delivered pastries to the company’s massive IAA booth in time for the show-opening press conference, noted Karin Rådström, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks and incoming CEO of Daimler Trucks.
“The business case [for electric trucks] looks good for many customers already,” Rådström said from the presentation stage. “This should send a message to the politicians in Berlin: The trucks are ready; the infrastructure must follow.”
Indeed, technology options, not mandates, will most effectively lead the transition to carbon-neutral transportation, the head of one of the world’s largest vehicle suppliers explained here at IAA.
“The thing that’s really important for me, and for Mahle, is just to promote this freedom of choice for the consumer, and for the investor, and for trucks,” Arnd Franz, CEO and chairman of the Mahle Management Board, said during a roundtable discussion with international journalists.
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“Don’t take away the freedom of choice. The people need to spend their money for what makes sense to them while reaching carbon neutrality, that’s what’s important. Some legislation wants to decide somewhere in the capitol or the parliament what’s right for the people—and that does not fly. We waste money until we reach that reality check, and the reality check is coming. Sooner or later, they find out, ‘Oh, it doesn’t work,’ and there’s no backup.”
Likewise, ZF, as the world’s largest commercial vehicle and passenger car supplier, faces serious challenges in the transition to zero-emissions vehicles, and the solutions will be found through collaboration—between OEMs, suppliers, and customers; between industry and policymakers; and even between nations, Peter Laier, ZF Group board member responsible for the ZF Commercial Vehicle Solutions division, explained in an interview following his on-stage presentation during the IAA media day.
“One thing which is worrying us is that we need to have stable regulations for the transition of the industry,” Laier told TBB. “We would like to have more technology openness instead of regulation, or incentivization instead of regulation.”
And, needless to say, those on this side of the Atlantic can add Washington, D.C., and Ottawa to the legislative capitals that need to heed the message.
By the numbers
As the leading global platform for the commercial vehicle, logistics, and transport sectors, IAA Transportation 2024 attracted nearly 1,700 exhibitors from 41 countries—a 21% increase compared to 2022.
- International participation reached a record-breaking 72%, with more than 145 world and European product introductions.
- Visitors totaled approximately 145,000, about a 10% increase over 2022.
- Some 1,400 journalists from 52 countries were on hand for more than 80 press conferences.
- Manufacturers provided more than 6,300 test drives in 60 vehicles.
