The automotive industry has never lacked innovative ideas. Today, the decisive difference lies elsewhere: it is not the best idea that wins, but the one that reaches series production fastest. Innovation is therefore becoming the decisive competitive factor – and speed its new currency.
Just a few years ago, the development of a new vehicle resembled a relay race. Development, procurement, suppliers and production worked one after another. Each handed its results to the next. Given the complexity of modern vehicles, this model is now simply too slow.
Software, electronics, artificial intelligence, digital services and global supply chains are now permanently interlinked. Decisions in one area have an immediate impact on numerous other disciplines. The real challenge is therefore no longer simply to develop new technologies, but to master the growing complexity of modern vehicles.
Mastering Complexity Is the Key to Innovation
OEMs still bring vehicles to market. Increasingly, however, their real competitive advantage lies in managing complexity.
The more complex vehicles become, the earlier development, procurement, software, production and suppliers must work together. Artificial intelligence is accelerating this shift even further. Success is therefore determined less within individual disciplines, and increasingly by the ability to connect knowledge, accelerate decisions and turn good ideas into market-ready solutions faster than the competition.
Innovation therefore no longer happens by chance. It is the result of a development process that systematically integrates speed, connectivity and collaboration.
IZB Brings the Transformation to Life
The International Suppliers Fair (IZB) 2026 in Wolfsburg addresses precisely this transformation. Its concept follows the same principles by which modern vehicles are developed today: early collaboration, topic-focused exchange and the interconnection of different capabilities.
The Volkswagen Group Hubs bring development, procurement and suppliers together from the outset of new topic areas. The Cross Industry Area deliberately looks beyond the boundaries of the automotive industry, because many of the ideas shaping tomorrow’s mobility come from other sectors. With innovations@IZB, forward-looking developments gain a stage and direct access to relevant decision-makers.
IZB therefore not only shows how the automotive industry is changing – it already operates according to the principles by which the vehicles of the future will be developed. Kai Grünitz, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Brand responsible for Technical Development and patron of IZB 2026, sums up this understanding: “Technical Development begins with an idea – but it only becomes reality through close collaboration.” That is why IZB brings together precisely the people who jointly develop the mobility of tomorrow.
Road to IZB 2026
With its editorial series “Road to IZB 2026” on OEM&Lieferant, Wolfsburg AG, the organiser of IZB, tracks the key developments in the international automotive and supplier industry in the run-up to the next International Suppliers Fair in Wolfsburg.
At IZB from 27 to 29 October 2026, these topics will not only be discussed but taken forward in collaboration with leading players from across the international automotive industry. Once again, Wolfsburg will become a meeting point for manufacturers, suppliers, technology companies, start-ups and research institutions – and a place where new ideas, partnerships and solutions for tomorrow’s mobility take shape.
The focus is on future technologies, market trends, and the people, companies and innovations shaping the industry’s transformation.
For more information about IZB 2026 and opportunities to participate, visit: www.izb-online.com
Text/Foto: Wolfsburg AG / IZB
