In the opening fireside chat Dr. Kurt-Christian Scheel, Managing Director, German Association of the Automotive Industry, discussed the acute semi shortage, electrification and the mobility of tomorrow. Tim Rokossa, Head of German Company Research & Global Coordinator Automotive Sector, commented: “This year saw 25 corporates and more than 160 clients attending the dbAccess IAA Cars conference 2021, which exceeded attendance and investor interest two years ago. We believe this is a reflection of the very volatile environment this industry operates in making it important to stay very close to the news flow. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this such a successful event”. Industry statements prior to the event suggested a difficult quarter ahead; dbResearch highlights five key points from the event: We were privileged to welcome major industry leaders including; Arno Antlitz (CFO VW), Ola Kaellenius (CEO Daimler) and Harald Wilhem (CFO Daimler), Birgit Böhm (Head of Treasury BMW) and Christian Koetz (CEO Tires Continental), Patrick Koller (CEO of Faurecia), Stefan Wolf (CEO ElringKlinger), Francisco Riberas (Executive Chairman Gestamp), Kathleen Wantz-O'Rourke (CFO Plastic Omnium), Kevin Clark (CEO of Aptiv), Fredrik Westin (CFO of Autoliv), Avinash Rugoobur (President of Arrival), Carsten Breitfeld (CEO of Faraday Future) as well as Christoph Weigler (General Manager Uber DACH) and Wolfgang Bernhart (Senior Partner Roland Berger).