In the next years the show was suspended due to the ongoing World War I, and was then reinstated in 1921 with 67 automobile manufacturers displaying 90 vehicles under the motto "comfort".

From 1947 to 1949, West Germany's automobile and accessories manufacturers took part in the export trade fair in Hanover.

The automobile industry's hall acted like a magnet on the public, with a great number of visitors coming to the show.

[2] The trade fair was held in April and attracted a total of 570,000 visitors, with exhibits including the first HGV to have a turbo diesel engine.

From then on, the German automobile industry bade farewell to its traditional exhibition site in Berlin and relocated the motor show completely to Frankfurt.

[citation needed] In 1989 the last IAA to feature both passenger cars and commercial vehicles in one show confirmed that the exhibition site in Frankfurt was now too small for this major event.

In 2001 the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York cast a shadow over the IAA Cars in Frankfurt.

As a mark of solidarity with the victims and their dependants, all show elements and loud music as well as the official opening ceremony with the Federal Chancellor were cancelled.

VDA President Gottschalk explained this decision: "Because we could not permit terrorist forces to take away our freedom of action.

In an impressive manner, the general public confirmed that this indeed was the right decision to take: more than 800,000 people visited this "quiet IAA".

The 2010s were marked by the transformation of the automotive industry: In 2011 the 63rd IAA featured the all-new "Hall of Electric Mobility",[3] a first-timer to all Motor Shows worldwide.

[6] Since 2017, NMW's purpose was to not only to be Europe's leading innovation platform for future mobility, but also to develop and establish formats and business models beyond the booth rental of conventional auto shows.

[10] According to the organizers, a total of 25,000 participants, 18,000 of them by bicycle, came to a demonstration on 14 September for a change in traffic policy; the police spoke of about 15,000.

The marques that specialise in high performance and luxury vehicles — such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce — were often the biggest draw at the IAA show, and they were absent from the several previous exhibitions.

[14] The rapidly decreasing number of visitors in the last several exhibitions reflected the waning enthusiasm for the IAA, along with prominent protests against the car industry by environmental activists.

Four other cities had also submitted bids but didn't make the final round: Cologne, Frankfurt, Hanover, and Stuttgart.

The Greens-led city council and Bavarian state government have given their support, along with 2/3 of people who responded to the survey.

Those launched elsewhere include the Austin Maestro, Fiat Uno, Nissan Micra, Peugeot 205 and Renault 11.

The Opel Corsa (launched in Spain in September 1982) was also imported to the UK from April 1983, where it was sold as the Vauxhall Nova.

The following introductions were made at the 2001 show: For the first time, the passenger car-only exhibition in Frankfurt broke the barrier of one million visitors.

The following introductions were made at the 2003 show: The exhibition focused strongly on future solutions such as hybrid, hydrogen, flex-fuel and SCR technologies for reducing NOx emissions.

For example, Mercedes-Benz arrived at the show with seven hybrids, including a luxury sedan concept vehicle called the F 700, a 17-foot (5.2 m)-long car that achieves a fuel economy of 44.4 miles per gallon (mpg).

[43] Opel also unveiled the Corsa Hybrid, a coupe that combines a belt-driven starter and alternator with a lithium-ion battery.

[45][46] The Citroën C-Cactus regular diesel-electric hybrid vehicle debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.