GERMANY’S International Motor Show IAA, which opened yesterday with the slogan “What will move us next,” will focus on transforming the automotive industry toward climate-neutral mobility.

Historically held in Frankfurt, the auto fair is also for the first time taking place in Munich as part of efforts to revive the event amid environmentalists’ criticism as well as dwindling visitor numbers.

This year, the biennial event has remodeled itself as a “mobility fair” with a focus on electric cars and even bicycles.

“We’re committed to climate-neutral mobility,” said Hildegard Mueller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry and organizer of the IAA. “Our goal is to make the transformation a success story for the German automotive industry, and thereby for Germany itself.”

In total, the show has attracted about 700 exhibitors, including automobile brands, bicycle brands, major players in the tech industry and major companies in the supply industry.

Ahead of the official start of the IAA, carmaker BMW had ramped up its climate targets and announced to become climate neutral across the entire value chain by 2050 at the latest.

In a move to become “the most sustainable carmaker in the world,” BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse presented the BMW i Vision Circular at the IAA on Monday, a concept vehicle whose design goal is to create a vehicle that is optimized for closed materials cycles and achieves 100 percent use of recycled materials and can also be fully recycled.

Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, is also taking part in the fair. The company has already invested 5 billion euros (US$5.9 billion) in electric mobility.

“Electric mobility is becoming a core business for us, while CO2-free mobility is becoming a growth area,” Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner said.(Xinhua)