BERLIN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Europe's leading trade fair for motorcycles, scooters and e-bikes, the biannual INTERMOT 2018, opened its doors on Tuesday.

This year's fair in the German city of Cologne is focusing on custom-build motorcycles.

"Following the trend towards individuality, emotionality and lifestyle, some of the largest manufacturers are showing their competence in custom builds at larger area this year," said Gerald Boese, chairman of the management board of the Koelnmesse exhibition site at the opening press conference.

In contrast to the previous INTERMOT where a separate hall had been dedicated to electric mobility, this year's fair does not focus on electric mobility. Sharing the exhibition area with other non-electric drives, a significantly smaller area is dedicated to the electric sector during INTERMOT 2018.

Ralf Keller, president of the German association of the motorcycle industry (IVM) and general manager at Yamaha Motor Germany, underlined the economic importance of the motorcycle industry to Germany.

A total of 130,000 jobs generate a total turnover of 11.6 billion euros (13.4 billion U.S. dollars) for the German market, according to Keller.

Another trend in the motorcycle industry is digitalization and connectivity. According to Boese, the digital transformation will provide "great opportunities for a better quality of life, new business models or more efficient management".

Safety and communication systems for motorcyclists would also benefit from these trends both in direct communication between drivers or groups of drivers, but also in hazardous situations or as warning systems, added Boese.