IAA Voices: Interview with the Schaeffler AG

Schaeffler is a leading global automotive and industrial supplier. For more than 75 years, the company has been driving forward pioneering inventions and developments in the fields of motion and mobility. With innovative technologies, products, and services in the fields of electromobility, CO2-efficient drives, Industry 4.0, digitalization, and renewable energies, the company is a reliable partner for making motion and mobility more efficient, intelligent, and sustainable.

What does Schaeffler Automotive Technologies stand for and what should every trade fair visitor definitely know about the company?

Many people associate Schaeffler's automotive division with drive solutions for passenger cars. But we develop and manufacture systems and components for far more applications - including light and heavy commercial vehicles. At this year's IAA TRANSPORTATION, we will be showing our answers to the industry's pressing questions from the powertrain and chassis sectors.

What is the company's most important project for 2022/23?

CO2-efficient drives are a key issue for our automotive business. We first understand the powertrain system, the requirements and objectives of our customers, and on this basis develop powertrain solutions down to the level of individual components. Our product portfolio ranges from systems for reducing consumption and CO2 emissions in the powertrain to the electrification of commercial vehicles and buses to components for fuel cell systems and alternative fuel drives.

The newly designed IAA TRANSPORTATION is a platform and meeting place for transport and logistics companies from all over the world. What makes the trade show so appealing to you?

Without the logistics industry, it will not be possible to achieve the global climate targets. At the same time, it must master the balancing act between higher transport performance on the one hand and lower emissions on the other. This in turn requires innovative technical solutions, especially from suppliers like Schaeffler. At the IAA TRANSPORTATION, all players in the industry come together to show how transportation will become safer, more efficient, and thus more sustainable in the future. Schaeffler is participating in the IAA TRANSPORTATION for the first time this year and I personally am very much looking forward to the exchange.

What can visitors to your stand look forward to in particular?

Whether it's the electrification of the powertrain, the reduction of emissions, or automated driving - we're showcasing many of the topics that are currently moving the industry at our stand. My highlights are our electric motors for commercial vehicles, components for fuel cell drive and the Space Drive system - a key technology for autonomous driving. Of central importance for every system and every individual component we show in Hanover is our comprehensive industrialization expertise. We can map them seamlessly right through to forming and surface processes in our plants. This gives us decisive advantages over our competitors and sustainable mobility.

The coming years will be dominated by transformation. Where will the transport and logistics industry be in 2030 - and what milestones do you want to have achieved by then?

If we look at the current challenges, transportation will have to completely reinvent itself in the next few years - both in urban areas and on long-haul routes. Efficiency, sustainability, and safety are the focus here. Schaeffler will play a key role in shaping this new mobility.