EUROPE – The IAA Commercial Vehicles trade fair is claiming a bumper 2012 edition after featuring 354 world premieres.
The 64th biennial exhibition was attended by 1,904 exhibitors from 46 countries, a nine per cent increase on its former edition in 2010, while exhibition space jumped 11 per cent to 260,000sqm.
Show organiser, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), said 26,000 people attended, a nine per cent rise on its previous edition.
“This is a very good result, which is to be regarded as all the more positive when we consider the economic difficulties in western and southern Europe,” VDA head of department Eckehart Rotter said in his closing speech. He emphasised the premiere of 354 innovations in the commercial vehicle sector as proof of the industry’s robustness and the show’s pioneering role.
“This 64th IAA has shown more than ever before that commercial vehicles set technological trends,” Rotter continued. “The IAA Commercial Vehicles is a decision-makers’ trade fair. The share of professional visitors is 85 per cent, and on weekdays we recorded top values of 92 per cent.”
In addition, the show chalked up its highest international attendees result, with 27 per cent of professional visitors coming from abroad. This was mirrored by an eight per cent rise in foreign exhibitors to 1,047, led by China for the first time.
“One particular statement by more than half the trade visitors is remarkable: They are planning investments in the commercial vehicle sector in the next six to 12 months, and one quarter of these visitors came to the IAA for precisely this reason,” Rotter added.
The IAA Commercial Vehicles Show was originally the subject of a potential calendar collision with Automechnika, which also planned to run at the same time but in Frankfurt. The two resolved the issue last year after Automechanika moved its dates a week earlier.
Alongside the core trade fair, the VDA held more than 30 specialist events and symposia with partners such as the Electric Mobility Congress, attended by 4,300 delegates. It also featured an open-air test track for the first time, giving 1,500 visitors the opportunity to trial electric commercial vehicles.
The IAA Commercial Vehicles event returns to Hannover from 25 September to 2 October 2014. VDA will hold its sister international motor show, IAA Cars, in Frankfurt from 12 to 22 September 2013.
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