International auto shows tend to draw a lot of attention, including from car vandals.
Organizers of the Frankfurt Motor Show (September 12-22), however, are bracing for potential disruption by climate activists who are preparing anti-car protests at the event.
According to a Reuters report, police are investigating a group called “Rocks in the Gearbox” after more than 40 luxury vehicles were vandalized at a car dealership near Frankfurt earlier this week. The group claimed responsibility for vandalizing Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin vehicles at a Wiesbaden car dealership on Monday.
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The luxury cars were smashed with metal objects and the two glass doors at the dealerships were broken, a police spokesman said, adding that the perpetrators used hammers and crowbars. Following the devastation of the luxury car dealership, “Rocks in the Gearbox” released a statement in which it warned the Frankfurt Motor Show will be their next target.
“In two weeks Frankfurt will once again launch a propaganda show where the outmoded, climate and environment destroying transportation system is hyped,” the group wrote. “We want to expose this show for what it really is: profits made on the backs of the poorest and at the expense of future generations… We think it is time to throw rocks into the gearbox of capitalist and automotive profit logic,” read the statement.
Mercedes-AMG Project One at 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show
The activists (for lack of a better term) are calling for more scrutiny of working conditions of people mining rare earths for electric car batteries and electronics as well as of those working in related industries, including freight, cotton, and rubber production.
Given that another environmental group called “Sand in the Gearbox” has appealed to the public to join protests in Frankfurt on September 13-15, Germany’s auto industry association (VDA) warned auto show visitors to expect longer queues at security checkpoints. “Entrance controls will be tightened, given that there may be spontaneous rioting at the show,” VDA spokesman Eckehart Rotter told Reuters.
Climate activists in Germany have been doing more lately than just vandalize cars. Earlier this month, a group occupied railway lines supplying Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg factory.