“This 65th IAA Commercial Vehicles is looking a long way into the future. ‘Driving the future’ is its slogan – and the 322 world premieres are an impressive testament to the huge drive for innovation in the commercial vehicle industry. One focus of this IAA is connectivity. The commercial vehicles of the future will be always ‘online’, communicating with other vehicles, the transport company, and of course the customer. The way to automated driving – including commercial vehicles – will become visible to visitors for the first time at the world’s most important trade fair for mobility, transport and logistics. At the same time, this industry is working on further reductions in fuel consumption and thus in CO2 emissions of commercial vehicles. We are all competing and yet we have a common goal: offering the customer the best and most efficient vehicle,” stressed Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). He was speaking to more than 600 international representatives from the commercial vehicle industry and the media at the “Evening of the Commercial Vehicle Press” in Hannover.
Over 2,000 journalists from more than 50 countries are reporting from the IAA. The innovations at the IAA cover all segments, from light vans to heavy trucks, from urban buses to long-distance coaches, and from the manufacturers of trailers and bodies all the way to the numerous suppliers. A total of 82 press conferences will be held on 23 and 24 September, before the official opening ceremony with Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt on 25 September.
The VDA president pointed out that the number of exhibitors had risen by another 9 per cent, to 2,066 exhibitors from 45 countries. “And the IAA is more international than ever before – the proportion of international exhibitors (1,216) has reached a new record of 59 per cent,” Wissmann emphasised. Two years ago the figure was 55 per cent. The largest number of foreign exhibitors comes from China; it has climbed by around one third, to 200. The exhibition area has also increased and now covers nearly 265,000 square metres.
At the “Evening of the Commercial Vehicle Press” for the sixth time – after 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012 – three of the most prestigious international awards in the commercial vehicle business will be presented: the “Truck of the Year”, the “Bus of the Year” and the “Van of the Year”. In each case the judges are renowned commercial vehicle journalists and editors-in-chief from all over Europe, who put the products through numerous tests to examine them in detail. The “International Truck of the Year 2015” is the Renault Trucks T. The “International Bus of the Year 2015” award goes to the MAN Lion’s City GL CNG, a gas-powered articulated bus. The winner of the “International Van of the Year 2015” prize is the Iveco Daily.
