“The 322 world premieres at this IAA Commercial Vehicles demonstrate that the pioneering spirit in the commercial vehicle sector continues unabated. In total 2,066 exhibitors from 45 countries are presenting this industry’s drive for innovation at the world’s most important trade fair for mobility, transport and logistics. They want to ‘drive the future’. No other means of transport has made quantum leaps in recent years like the commercial vehicle – it is genuinely bundled technology on wheels,” stressed Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). He was speaking to around 700 high-ranking guests from politics and business at the opening ceremony of the 65th IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hannover. The 65th IAA Commercial Vehicles was opened by Federal Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt. He underlined, “The IAA Commercial Vehicles is the world’s most important trade fair of this type. Vehicle manufacturers and the supply industry impressively demonstrate the innovations and trends offered by the commercial vehicle sector. The technical developments in the fields of connectivity, efficiency and vehicle safety are especially interesting. There are growth potentials here, which we have to utilise for Germany’s benefit.” The opening ceremony also included welcoming addresses by the State Premier of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, and the Mayor of Hannover, Stefan Schostok.
VDA President Wissmann emphasised, “No matter whether in large or small businesses, in urban or rural regions, from the North Sea to the edge of the Alps, one thing is clear: commercial vehicles ensure prosperity and jobs. In Germany around 190,000 direct employees give of their best in commercial vehicle production day by day. That is one quarter of all employees in the automotive industry. Then there are also the employees whose jobs depend indirectly on commercial vehicles – in operations, maintenance and deployment. Of course this includes the vehicles’ best friend, the driver!”
The number of exhibitors has risen by another 9 per cent and is only just below the record level from 2008. This is the second largest number since the IAA Commercial Vehicles has been a separate show, i.e. for 22 years. And the exhibition space, which has also increased again (to nearly 265,000 sq m), has almost set another record. The proportion of international exhibitors (1,216), at 59 per cent, is higher than ever before. “The IAA has therefore strengthened and expanded its position as the world’s leading trade fair for mobility, transport and logistics,” Wissmann emphasised.
The China Day, the India Day and the Turkey Day form three country focuses at this IAA, Wissmann explained, adding, “Around 30 specialist events and congresses make the trade fair grounds an impressive conference venue. Together we want to analyse the latest developments in technology, business and the economy,” the VDA president said.
Addressing Federal Minister of Transport Alexander Dobrindt, Wissmann emphasised, “We are pleased that the Gordian knot with Euro VI as now been cut. From next year onwards, investments in the most environmentally friendly technology will finally also pay off in the truck toll. At the same time, however, we must not overload businesses. It is absolutely essential to keep transport and logistics costs at competitive levels. This should be taken into consideration in new developments in the truck toll.”
Wissmann went on to say that both national and international freight traffic will continue to increase in the future. All modes of transport would be needed for coping with the growing volume. He said, “Trucks, the railways and ships must all do what they do best. They have to be networked in the best possible way to keep on making transport more efficient.
Commercial vehicles were “unbeatable”, especially on short and medium-length routes: 78 per cent of all road freight transport is transported over distances of less than 150 kilometres. “Commercial vehicles make roughly 2.7 billion courier, express and parcel deliveries every year. One thing applies equally to books and shoes, items bought as gifts or for one’s own use: no other mode of transport is better suited to the rapidly growing mail order business than commercial vehicles. They serve society reliably and unobtrusively. Commercial vehicles truly are quiet heroes with no airs and graces,” Wissmann stated.
Public passenger transport, too, would be inconceivable without road transportation, the VDA president stressed, and continued: “Every year buses carry over 5 billion passengers to their destinations – which is 43 per cent of the total volume carried by buses and railways.” He added that coaches were writing an “extraordinary success story.” In the first eight months of this year they had already transported over 10 million passengers, and the figure could exceed 15 million by the end of the year. At the same time, buses were real CO2 champions: a fully laden bus consumed less than one litre of fuel per passenger per 100 kilometres.
This progress resulted principally from heavy investment in research and development (R&D) in environmentally friendly technologies. The automotive industry accounted for almost one third of all spending on R&D in Germany, Wissmann said.
Today, emissions of pollutants from a modern Euro VI truck are up to 98 per cent less than those from a truck 25 years ago. Compared with the previous Euro V standard, nitrogen oxide emissions have come down by 80 per cent, while particulates have been reduced by around two thirds.
“So the commercial vehicle manufacturers have successfully carried out the historic task of reducing pollutants almost to zero. We therefore say to the European Commission: yet another reduction in classical pollutants does not make a lot of economic or environmental sense. A new class would ultimately involve massive amounts of input but bring only marginal improvements. We are now concentrating on further decreases in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. In this area we have already made great strides forward. Today a 40 tonne truck-trailer combination consumes around 60 per cent less fuel per tonne-kilometre than a truck did in the mid-1960s. Achieving that required a technological tour de force with high levels of investment – it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park,” Wissmann emphasised.
The European Commission had recognised that it would not be expedient to introduce rigid CO2 limit values for commercial vehicles: “It has taken the broad diversity of the commercial vehicle market into account and is going for more transparency in the market,” Wissmann said. He expected further CO2 savings primarily from alternative propulsion systems. For example natural gas was suitable for use in buses, light commercial vehicles and trucks. For light commercial vehicles, hybrid and pure electric systems were showing more and more promise – especially in local distribution. On the other hand, for heavy trucks in long-distance transport the clean and efficient diesel engine would remain the best solution for the time being.
In future, Wissmann explained, genuine efficiency potentials would be found in areas other than engines and drive trains. For instance, air resistance was responsible for up to one third of fuel consumption and thus also of CO2 emissions in long-distance transport. “Aerodynamics therefore offers further reduction potential, which the companies are exploiting step by step. This needs the right political framework conditions, currently being discussed in Brussels,” Wissmann underlined. Long trucks could make an important contribution here. Wissmann said, “The current field trial shows that long trucks can participate in road traffic without any problem and without compromising road safety. The companies involved all report positive experience in everyday use. Long trucks do not represent additional competition with rail, but instead ideally they can be integrated into combined transport.”
Safety in road freight transport, the VDA president emphasised, was at least as important as being environmentally sound, and he mentioned adaptive cruise control, distance warning, braking assistants and lane departure warning as examples. “Thanks to better and better safety systems, today’s trucks are as safe as passenger cars in proportion to the distances covered.”
“Our companies want to continue building on the existing driver assistance systems. The next step will be partially automated driving. The stress on drivers during routine tasks will be reduced and they will be warned about hazards. That means less stressful driving, and will therefore also improve the accident figures. Connectivity also offers enormous opportunities in logistics. The supply chain and transport processes will become even more transparent,” Wissmann declared. In particular when it comes to “connectivity”, visitors to the International Motor Show (IAA) can peer a long way ahead – in line with the IAA slogan “Driving the future”.
Federal Transport Minister Dobrindt also took up the subject of connectivity. “Digitalisation will revolutionise driving. The German manufacturers are among the leaders in automated driving and play a major role in shaping the future of driving. Intelligent traffic technologies can relieve stress on drivers and catch driving errors. For example, they can regulate the distance to vehicles in front or ensure that the vehicle stays in the lane. The Federal Ministry of Transport has already convened a Round Table on Automated Driving with all the parties involved – with the aim of discussing and clarifying legal, scientific and social issues. We expect to have initial results by the end of this year. We want to actively shape the process of digitalisation – to benefit road safety, consumers and Germany as a location for business and innovation.”
