From September 5 to 10, 2023, Munich, Germany hosted an international mobility festival. Almost 750 exhibitors from 38 countries, 500 international speakers and over 300 premieres were presented at the fair. The exhibition space was visited by 500,000 visitors, while on Saturday alone, 100,000 people were recorded at the open venue of the fair in the city center.
One of the world’s biggest mobility festival, IAA MOBILITY 2023, organized every four years, was moved from Frankfurt to Munich and was bigger and better attended than its predecessors. This year’s festival was organized at two main locations, in the exhibition hall and in the strict center of the city (map). The latter meant that random visitors could also see the festival. By choosing the location, the organizers brought the mobility festival to the people, made it accessible to everyone and organized it for the convenience of people of all ages.
While mobility was addressed in the congress center from the innovation aspect, development strategies and competitiveness, the novelties and current offer in the city center were introduced in different ways to the general audience. Means of micromobility (bicycles, ordinary and electric, cargo bikes, bikes for families with children, pets, electric scooters…, electric four-wheelers for the elderly) and one or two-seater miniature vehicles suitable for driving within urban environments and covering short distances were presented. Fun education for children was provided. Emphasis was given to presenting models of electric battery vehicles and concepts, as well as cars with an internal combustion engine. It was possible to test vehicles with test drives around the city. 8,500 test drives with cars and 4,000 drives with bikes and electric bikes were taken.
One of the areas on which the organizers focused was dialogue with the audience. In front of the Marienplatz church was placed a visitor “laboratory” that hosted 65 panels and workshops addressing the future of urban development and mobility.
A considerable representation of Asian vehicles was visible at the festival. One of the most noted was BYD, which presented a range of electric vehicles, as well as manufacturers MG Motors, Xpeng, Honqi and some others. Noted American manufacturers were Tesla and Lucid Motors. Among the European manufacturers: BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedez Benz and Porche, which celebrated its 60th anniversary, stood out in the open space – in the city.
The event was officially opened by Olaf Scholz, together with VDA President Hildegard Müller. On the first day, Natalie Portman, American actress and Oscar winner and Alyssa Carson, astrobiologist, among others, shared their thoughts as keynote guest speakers. On the second day of the festival, the World Energy Congress was held, hosting 500 participants. The third day was marked by discussions on artificial intelligence and other challenges in the automotive industry. The fourth day continued with interesting presentations in the field of sustainable mobility, the use of various types of means of mobility, the establishment of multimodal hubs, with discussions on the environmental impact of batteries for electric vehicles and their life cycle. The first visionary club podcast was recorded. On the fifth day, Saturday, activities took place exclusively in the city center. On the last, sixth day, the festival organized city walks with discussions about the role of mobility in society, with a concluding family and children’s program.
More than 3,700 accredited journalists from around the world visited the event.
You can read more about the event here.
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