The in-cabin experience will be the most important differentiator for drivers in the future, and this year’s IAA Mobility proved automakers are determined to deliver the best in comfort, entertainment, productivity tools and safety.
Connectivity and computation are critical here, so it was no surprise to see several major partnerships between tech and auto companies announced including that of Continental and Google Cloud, who are collaborating on a new intuitive user experience for drivers which will bring artificial intelligence to the cockpit.

Similarly, there are growing collaborations between semiconductor firms and cloud companies to democratize and scale vehicle software development initiatives by enabling automakers to experiment and integrate cloud-based technologies into their development processes.
"Platformization" of hardware solutions is experiencing growing momentum to enable faster and scalable innovation design and deployment efforts -- to further champion consumer success. Over-the-air software updates, applications, and value-added services, which consumers have increasingly become accustomed to on their mobile devices, have the potential to redefine how the automotive value chain creates and delivers value to the end consumers.
Furthermore, notable launches relating to in-cabin driver/occupant monitoring safety were that of Mercedes-Benz, whose concept car included child presence detection (CPD), which it described as a "sophisticated safety feature" to mitigate the risk of children being accidentally left in hot vehicles.
How to make the EV industry thrive
We can’t expect people to buy electric vehicles without the means to charge them, and this was openly acknowledged by high-profile speakers at this year’s IAA event. In an interview, Mercedes CEO Ola Kaellenius said that while it is targeting only selling electric cars by 2030 "where markets allow," there is an urgent need to have the infrastructure in place to support the EV transition.
In this episode, Sathish Muthukrishnan, Chief Information, Data and Digital Officer at Ally Financial, discusses the impact of AI in the financial services sector, Ally’s approach to AI and how the company is thinking about using AI to support its auto business.
When discussing how we will travel from point A to point B in our daily lives in the future, Bloomberg moderator. Stefan Nicolai spoke with VDA President Hildegard Müller, Riese & Mueller CEO Sandra Wolf, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr and Michael Paterson of Deutsche Bahn. All participants agreed that the necessary infrastructure is required to make an all-electric future a reality.
While there is a need to expand the charging infrastructure and to enable safer fast charging, simultaneously, the grid needs to be resilient enough to accommodate the additional load that would be brought online due to the growth of EVs. Furthermore, intelligent battery management software and grid digitization would be critical to enable the convergence between the grid and electrified mobility.
Protecting resources
But with most other industries following this path, everyone is competing for resources. Political and social upheaval also continues to disrupt global supply chains.
How can industries get what they need without causing further environmental damage, or more worryingly, without running out of certain resources?
This was addressed by the EIT Urban Mobility organization, who hosted a debate on the environmental impact of electric car batteries and offered solutions as to how batteries can be more sustainable throughout their life cycles.
Andreas Cornet of McKinsey and VDA Managing Director Marcus Bollig discussed how the supply of semiconductors in Europe can be secured despite rising demand for chips.
Finally, BASF CEO Martin Brudermueller gave a fascinating talk about how chemistry will drive sustainable mobility, outlining how the use of used tires and agricultural waste reduced carbon emissions at Mercedes.
Beyond the batteries, innovations in cabin technologies have major upsides for material and emission reduction as well. Modular and flexible cabin technology platforms are critical to enable better reuse and recycle applications.
Rethinking power management as an intelligence capability, on how they impact the increasingly compute-intensive automotive systems, are necessary to enable better energy efficiency.
Above all, the IAA proved that automotive technology teams are committed to developing the sector and creating closer partnerships between original equipment manufacturers and technology leaders. These will pave the way for a future of more intelligent, connected, and most importantly, environmentally friendly vehicles.