What does the IAA TRANSPORTATION slogan "We Deliver" mean to you?

For us, "We Deliver" captures both the practical purpose of our sector – moving goods and people reliably – and the responsibility that comes with it. The industry has spent years talking about the transition to cleaner transport. What matters now is delivering on it. That means proving that sustainable technologies can meet the performance, cost and integration demands of real fleets today, not at some point in the future. That is what AEM set out to do, and it is what we are showing at IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026.

What are your expectations for IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026, and what are you looking forward to the most?

IAA TRANSPORTATION is where the global commercial vehicle industry comes together, so our expectations are high. This will be our second time exhibiting, and we return to Hanover as a much more established Tier 1 supplier with a stronger European footprint than in 2024. We are looking forward to reconnecting with existing customers, meeting new ones, and showing how far our technology has progressed. Above all, we are looking forward to introducing the industry to the next step in our HDRM motor technology, which will make its public debut on our stand.

Which specific topics or innovations will you be showcasing at IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026?

The centrepiece of our stand will be a new, larger HDRM motor with significantly higher torque than our existing HDRM family. It represents the next stage in our commercial vehicle motor strategy and will be presented to the media for the first time at the show. Alongside it, we will show our new air-cooled drivetrain system, which pairs the HDRM 150 with an air-cooled inverter and removes the need for liquid cooling – a simpler, more robust and more easily integrated solution for off-highway applications.

Visitors will also see our technology in application on the SAF-Holland stand, where the TRAKr e-axle uses an HDRM 150 motor as a generator for energy recovery. We will also share an update on how our partnership with SAF-Holland is developing.

In which area of the transport and logistics sector do you see the greatest potential, and where is the most urgent need for improvement?

The greatest potential still lies in electrifying the commercial vehicle sector. The payload demands, duty cycles and total cost of ownership expectations are what make this segment so difficult to electrify and so valuable to get right. The most urgent need for improvement sits behind that, in the supply chain. Too much of the current e-mobility ecosystem still depends on rare earth materials with concentrated, geopolitically sensitive sources. Independence from that supply chain is a strategic need of OEMs, and it is what we have designed our technology to solve.

Who are you looking to connect with this coming September, and why?

We want to connect with commercial vehicle OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, trailer and axle manufacturers, and the off-highway community – anyone building or integrating drivetrains for real-world duty cycles. We are also keen to meet fleet operators who are thinking seriously about total cost of ownership and long-term sustainability, not just the initial switch to electric. And we look forward to spending time with the media, industry analysts and policy stakeholders who shape how the sector talks about electrification.

The shift toward sustainable solutions in transport and logistics is massive. What is your vision for the industry 10 years from now?

In ten years, electric commercial vehicles should be the default across most duty cycles rather than the exception. But I also hope the industry will have moved on from a narrow view of sustainability that stops at tailpipe CO2. The motors, batteries and materials that go into these vehicles need to be sustainable across their whole lifecycle. That means recyclable, responsibly sourced and free from materials that create environmental or geopolitical risk. If the industry gets that right, electrification will deliver its full promise.

Looking back at IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026, what has been the most significant change within your company or the industry as a whole?

For AEM, the change since IAA 2024 has been substantial. Two years ago we came to Hanover to introduce ourselves to the German market. Since then we have unveiled the second generation of our heavy-duty commercial vehicle motor, the HDRM300C, signed a seven-figure development agreement with one of the world's largest Tier 1 automotive suppliers, and been commissioned by a major Asian OEM to evaluate our aluminium-wound motor technology for high-volume vehicle platforms. Combined with our ongoing collaboration with SAF-Holland, this has taken AEM from a niche commercial vehicle specialist to a supplier engaged across commercial, off-highway and high-volume passenger applications.

The wider industry has changed too. The biggest shift is the growing acceptance that supply chain sovereignty matters as much as vehicle emissions. Rare earth independence, once a niche conversation, is now firmly on the strategic agenda for OEMs and Tier 1s alike and increasingly, so is reducing dependence on concentrated copper supply. AEM has designed solutions for both.

In what ways is AI transforming your company?

Our teams utilise elements of AI every day, and we have recently undertaken company-wide training to help us maximise the powerful capabilities of AI tools. These are utilised in software programming for data analysis and modelling, through to productivity enhancements in commercial work and activity monitoring in our CRM system.

If you could leave the industry with just one message at IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026, what would it be?

The switch from diesel to electric is only the headline. What matters just as much is what those vehicles are made of, where the materials come from, and what happens to them when they reach end of life. This is the generation of commercial vehicles that will define the next twenty years on the road, and we have a real chance to design them properly now. The industry needs motors free from concentrated supply chains, materials that can actually be recycled, and with no reliance on inputs that create environmental problems somewhere else in the world.

Do it properly now and this industry will still be leading the way in twenty years. Cut corners and we will spend the same twenty years going back to fix things we should have got right the first time.