It may be one of the more pleasant appointments on the calendar for Chancellor Olaf Scholz: The opening of the International Motor Show (IAA) in Munich – also called IAA Mobility 2023. It is his first IAA. When Angela Merkel opened her first IAA in 2007, a million people flocked to the exhibition in Frankfurt. Addressing the threat of tighter CO2 limits, VDA President Matthias Wissmann said at the time: „A successful car has to be sexy.“ He didn’t think much of fuel-efficient cars or EVs. In China, 5.3 million new cars were sold at the time.