I am back from the IAA with somewhat mixed feelings. I saw dozens of car shows in the past 10 years, including four IAAs, and I never felt so clearly that something is not right. I always felt that car shows clearly reflect the pride, the wishes and the challenges of the car industry and provide a mirror to our time and of the future.
If this is true, then the situation is bad. Really-really bad… I imagine running a global car company must be like managing a really big boat (not that I have experience with any of them). These days a tidal wave of apocalyptic magnitude is screaming through the waters, in the prospect of trade wars and regulatory uncertainty. This year’s IAA can give a good indication if the boats are at least turned toward the right direction, or just floating belly up with the engines in flames.
The challenges also brought changes in the way automotive players envisage their trade show presence, and this might not please everybody. Here are 10 trends and symptoms that I personally did not like.
1. Massive, unprecedented absence of car brands
Increasing absence of manufacturers has been an alarming trend for years, but I’ve never seen it this far in Frankfurt. The list is truly astonishing and go way beyond my predictions encompassing over two dozen manufacturers from global giants to small luxury brands: Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Cadillac, Citroën, Chevrolet, Dacia, DS, Fiat, Ferrari, Infiniti, Kia, Koenigsegg, Lexus, Lotus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Rolls-Royce, Tesla, Toyota and Volvo.
In addition, Thunderpower abstained, a Chinese brand that never made, let alone sell cars in Germany, but their stages matched the size and quality of Honda or Mazda.
Each has its own grounds from ailing companies through Brexit challenges to a change in corporate marketing strategy.
But each of these companies has been present in the past few years. Lotus rented an entire hall in Paris a few years ago, Volvo was a stable source of the best coffee in car shows and still ensure local presence at the Techno Classic or the Brussels car show.
In fact, I got the impression that the Brussels Car Show featured much more brands, a similarly vast surface area and sights, with a bit more balanced offering (lesser show by Germans but stronger French presence).
September is the time for the European car show (either in Paris or Frankfurt), and personally, I feel annoyed to see the role of the EU show going outside the EU to Geneva.
2. Much less presence even by those who came
Three German conglomerates usually fill entire buildings with cars, sights and shows. This year BMW handed over half of its the single floor hall to a number of brands that also prepared a lesser stage.
Land Rover and Jaguar kept up with its pace, but Hyundai left out much of last year’s show. No rally car, or simulator, not to mention the absence of the entire Kia brand.
Ford and Opel also reduced its presence, and the remaining Chinese that still erect a stage also took back a bit.
3. No real cars from the 2019 model years
International car shows are still trade shows, and the impressive factory stages serve to sell cars. In fact, these are the very purpose for the existence of these shows, and the stage should feature them in appetising format.
Not here, not now…
The Germans, most notably Audi, Merc, and VW practically hid their current model range, except for hybrid and electric cars. Yet even those were often staged in a few out of sight corners.
Porsche hid its production cars upstairs, Audi in a small segment, Merc hardly showed any vehicle without an electric powertrain. Whereas last year, their main hall was filled with exciting cars, it was pretty much empty.
I also had the impression that only those companies stressed their current petrol car line-up, who had no future projects ready to be showcased.
Opel came with a 50-year-old electric car but not much else from the future. Their entire show aimed to stage the Corsa, a new model of life or death importance for the German brand.
Another brand that stayed with two feet on the ground was Skoda: they premiered a new Superb, and staged a 50-year-old Octavia with the current one.
4. Thematic topics will not compensate for the above
Each international car shows have a strategy to entertain visitors who do not come to see/buy a new car. The topics may vary from year and location. The French Mondiale presented fashion and movie thematic or a psychedelic road trip with strange classics. The IAA usually fills the ill unused gap with classic cars.
This year the German classic and high-end automotive centre Motoroworld organised a classic car hall filled with rarities and noblesse. For those who never been to any of the Motorworld sites, I recommend a visit to the Schumacher Collection.
The Schumacher Collection is an emotional journey through the career of the greatest F-1 Legend
Hall nr 4 is filled with a great mood, provided by bands playing music from the past millennia.
Yet the stages are no match for the elegant shows of the factories, not even those at the classic car events like Essen Techno Classica.
The Motorworld hall is merely a large room packed with a bunch of great classics without any decoration.
Unless you came to invest in a used Veyron or a Gullwing SL, this wouldn’t be the place that takes your breath away.
5. The eerie silence… and zombies
The expo area in Frankfurt is massively huge, so any help wondering between the vast halls is welcome. The ambassadors of the new age are the press cars provided by enthusiastic exhibitors. These cars fulfil a noble duty to teleport journalists between the press conferences at various halls that follow each other under a tight agenda.
This year, almost every press shuttle had an electric drivetrain, the bulk of them offered by Merc, Audi and Hyundai. It is a refreshing experience to travel in style and silence but revealed a severe problem of the future that was not unknown before: zombies. I mean walkers…
Since the cars are moving in stealth mode, pedestrians wandering around the streets of the expo might be completely unaware of what is approaching them. We could drive behind walkers before they notice that somebody would move faster behind them. It is often not a question of bad faith, even people with full attention will not realise traffic, not mention the ones writing SMSs or engaged in a call, in a full zombie mode.
It seems the sound engineering is lagging behind even further than the usual challenges of electric personal mobility.
So these are my main problems with the IAA 2019, next up I will revisit some of the concerns I had at the stages of exhibitors…
