Future mobility in focus during IAA 2023
Last week was the IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich, the passenger car fair that has become a mobility fair. This year's fair offered 300 world premieres, 500,000 visitors, and 750 exhibitors from 38 nations and had a focus on the mobility of the future. The fair was for 2B2, but the public and well-visited "Open Space" was inside the city.
"What became crystal clear is that software is taking over, it is everywhere and 'customer experience' is the mantra of the day. The question is, though, will the OEMs manage to develop this new tech and software in-house, will they collaborate with (new) external partners or just buy in the software? Should external customer adaptations be allowed, or will the OEM technicians decide what experience the customer should have?" says Magnus Burman, KTH Transport Platform Director, who visited the fair.
Magnus Burman also noticed that German OEMs, with usually good self-confidence, are quite worried about the future of mobility and how they will fit in.
"It is obvious that Chinese electric car manufacturers offer attractive, technologically advanced, and affordable cars. Ursula von der Leyen's just launched an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric cars. It might be a possible chance for breathing space in the home market for European car manufacturers, perhaps. European and, above all, German vehicle manufacturers are now groping for the future. The automotive sector is transforming at a high pace."
Swedish representatives on the fair
Fordonsdalen, a KTH and Region Stockholm collaboration cluster project, had a stand at the IAA together with FKG and Swedish sub-suppliers.
"Throughout the week, we were able to inform about and discuss the need for triple helix collaboration in the ongoing transformation with both industry and other regional, German, Holland, France, USA, Canada and more, cluster initiatives that aim to support and develop their local industry within future mobility. Clearly, Stockholm has a huge potential to become a really strong region in future mobility. There is a large vehicle industry, a leading world tech sector and an innovation environment, but last but not least, excellent research at KTH."