Event
IAA Transportation — Hanover, Germany.
IAA Transportation is the largest commercial-vehicle trade show in Europe, held biennially in Hanover every even-numbered year. It is where every manufacturer unveils next-generation trucks, tractors, buses, vans and their associated technology — and where the aftermarket supply chain (lighting, suspension, drivetrain, safety systems) previews what will ship in the next product cycles.
Laatst bijgewerkt 24 april 2026
When and where
IAA Transportation is held every two years in September, at the Messegelände Hannover (Hanover Fair), Germany. Upcoming editions: September 2024 (last held), September 2026, September 2028.
Location: Messe-Schnellweg 1, 30521 Hannover, Germany. Seven exhibition halls plus an outdoor demonstration area; total 280,000 m² of exhibition space. Around 1,500 exhibitors across a typical edition.
Two distinct phases: Trade Days (Tuesday through Thursday, trade-only, €65 per day) and Public Days (Friday and Saturday, open to everyone).
What to see
IAA splits by theme:
- **Halls 12 and 13** — new commercial vehicles from the major OEMs (MAN, Scania, Mercedes, Volvo, DAF, Iveco, Renault Trucks, Ford Trucks, and increasingly Chinese brands) - **Halls 14–16** — trailer and bodywork manufacturers, with integrated exhibitions of lighting, suspension and safety system integrations - **Halls 19–21** — component and aftermarket suppliers (this is where the lighting industry exhibits) - **Outdoor demo area** — dynamic demonstrations: autonomous driving prototypes, electric vehicle charging, hydrogen test rigs
Every IAA features a handful of "industry-defining" debuts. The 2024 edition unveiled several fully battery-electric heavy trucks going into serial production in 2025–2026; the 2026 edition is expected to focus on hydrogen fuel cell trucks and the ISO 11992:2027 trailer-bus update.
Why IAA matters to the lighting industry
IAA is where regulation meets hardware. Every new truck displayed is the result of engineering decisions made 18–24 months earlier — which means the lighting systems on the 2024 IAA stands are what your fleet will be buying in 2025–2026, and the aftermarket suppliers who haven't figured out how to match those systems by 2027 will lose market share.
A typical IAA visit by an aftermarket-lighting buyer involves:
- Photographing every OEM's new trailer-connection interface (to see where proprietary features are replacing standards) - Collecting spec sheets from component suppliers on driver stages, CAN-bus interface chips, and connector formats that will be in the next generation of aftermarket lamps - Meeting OEM purchasing teams to discuss aftermarket supply agreements
For visitors from the retail side (fleet managers, owner-operators), IAA offers a view of what the OEMs think you'll need in three years. It's not the place to buy product off the show floor — that's Truckstar. But it is the place to understand where the industry is headed.
IAA tells you what's shipping in 2028. Truckstar tells you what people are buying today. Attend both.