VDL Groep of Eindhoven and curator Peter Brouns from Boels Zanders Advocaten of Venlo today reached an agreement in principle regarding the acquisition of the activities of Componenta by VDL Groep. Notification of the acquisition has been submitted to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). Componenta is an iron and metal foundry with locations in Weert and Heerlen, in the province of Limburg. The foundries will soon continue under the name VDL Castings Weert and VDL Castings Heerlen. Initially, a portion of the over 300 employees will be hired straight away. VDL expects customers to resume ordering at previous volumes and that over time a significant portion of the employees can be rehired.

Today, Prime Minister Mark Rutte officially launched the production of the MINI Countryman at VDL Nedcar in Born. This is the third MINI model now being produced in Limburg on behalf of BMW Group. The prime minister joined Dr Andreas Wendt, Senior Vice President and Head of Plant Regensburg of BMW Group, Willem van der Leegte, president and chairman of the board of VDL Groep, and Joost Govaarts, managing director VDL Nedcar, in signing the first MINI Countryman in the presence of the final assembly personnel. Like the MINI Convertible, the MINI Countryman will be manufactured exclusively at VDL Nedcar.

VDL Groep, as well as the BMW Group, today announced that VDL Nedcar is to start making a third model for BMW Group in addition to the MINI 3-door and the MINI Convertible. VDL Nedcar will produce the main production volumes of the MINI Countryman. In the future a hybrid version of this model will also be built in Born.

Passenger transport company Rheinbahn of Düsseldorf has ordered a further 80 Citea LLEs from VDL Bus & Coach. This order comes on top of the 60 units that were delivered in 2013. “We are hugely proud of the confidence that Rheinbahn is putting in our products”, says Boris Höltermann, General Manager VDL Bus & Coach Deutschland. “This follow-up order also confirms our strategy regarding lightweight concepts and the reduction in the Total Cost of Ownership associated with them and optimisation of the Profit of Ownership.”

Public transport company Arriva Netherlands has signed a contract with VDL Bus & Coach for the delivery of 228 Citeas, to be deployed in the Dutch concessions in Limburg (166 buses) and in Southeast Friesland and the West Frisian Islands (62 buses). Of the 228 vehicles, 30 are electric. The supply agreement was signed on Thursday, 29 September 2016 by Anne Hettinga, chair of Arriva Netherlands’ Board of Management, and Theo Toussaint, board member of VDL Groep, in the presence of Johannes Kramer, a member of the Friesland Provincial Executive.

VDL Groep of Eindhoven achieved a combined turnover of €1,587m in the first half of 2016. That is a 19% increase compared to the first half of 2015 (€1,333m). The result after tax for the first six months rose modestly: €61.9m compared to €59.9m in 2015. The balance position remains equally strong with a solvency ratio of 60%. The total order book (excl. car assembly division) at the end of June amounted to €780m compared to €645m at the end of June 2015. The number of employees also grew: from 10,623 at the end of 2015 to 11,827 (incl. 133 employees administration) mid-2016.

VDL Bus & Coach, as subcontractor, is converting 256 MU (Mobile Unit) buses for the Dutch Police. VDL Bus Venlo, where the buses are being entirely converted according to the specific requirements of the MU, has already delivered a large number of special, custom-made vehicles commissioned by the police in recent years. For VDL Bus & Coach, this represents the biggest order in the history of vehicle conversions. The police chose white as the new exterior colour. These new white MU buses will replace the present dark blue vehicles. Two vehicles have been presented so far; the first batch is scheduled for delivery in the autumn of 2016, with the last buses being delivered in 2019. After 2019, it may be possible that the order will be increased by an additional 83 vehicles. The repair and maintenance contract for the next 10 years has also been placed with VDL Bus & Coach.

VDL Groep of Eindhoven and Scholt Energy Control of Valkenswaard recently founded a company, called V-Storage, which focuses entirely on innovations in energy storage. In connection with the transition to electric bus transport, both the bus manufacturer and the business market energy supplier are facing new challenges and opportunities. Both companies’ strengths in the field of energy storage have now been bundled in V-Storage.

VDL Groep of Eindhoven is working on developing a fully electric truck. The initial project is a 37 tonne truck, designed for relatively short distances of about 100 km on a single battery charge. The vehicle can then be fully recharged in half an hour with rapid charging. This makes the electric truck suitable for city distribution, such as supplying supermarkets and other large retailers. For the development of this truck VDL is making use of technologies they have previously developed for their electric buses such as e-drive, battery technologies and energy management strategies. The first electric truck is expected to be ready in early 2017.

Industrial family business VDL Groep of Eindhoven is constantly developing. Partially because a number of board members are reaching retirement age, some changes in the Board of Management will take place in the course of 2016 and 2017. As previously announced, current President and Chairman of the Board Wim van der Leegte (68), having led the company for 50 years, will be succeeded by his son Willem van der Leegte as of 1 November of this year. Wim will then join the Supervisory Board of VDL Groep. CFO Jan Karssen (65) and Vice President Wim van Bakel (65) will also both retire, having spent 18 and 36 years with VDL Groep respectively. Joost Govaarts (59), Vice President VDL Groep and Managing Director VDL Nedcar, will also step down from the Board of Management on 1 January 2017.

Today, Wim and Willem van der Leegte accompanied His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima during a visit to BMW Group in Munich, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Belgian passenger transport company De Lijn has placed another large order with VDL Bus & Coach. In total, the order comprises 121 VDL Citeas SLE and 10 driving instructor buses, Citeas SLE with a second set of pedals for the driving instructor. This order is supplemental to the 67 Citeas SLE and 9 Citeas SLFA that were ordered in August 2015. “We are extremely happy with this great follow-up order from De Lijn. In less than three years, De Lijn has ordered a total of 345 buses and 41 micro buses from us. We are proud to be able to build so many buses for De Lijn,” says Peter Wouters, managing director of VDL Bus Roeselare, the factory where the Citeas for De Lijn are being built. The first new buses will be delivered in the spring of 2017. The Citeas will be put in service on various lines in Flanders.