VDL Groep achieved growth across the board in 2017, as compared to 2016. The industrial family business with headquarters in Eindhoven, saw its turnover, result and numbers of employees grow, last year. In addition, VDL is seeing the continuous broadening of its role as subcontractor. At the Subcontracting division, customers are not only supported with products and technology; VDL Groep is increasingly becoming a partner for total solutions.

Paul van Vuuren (59) has been nominated for appointment as managing director of
VDL Nedcar in Born. After the VDL Nedcar works council has issued a positive recommendation he will succeed Carel Bouckaert (59). At his own request and in good consultation with the VDL Nedcar management team, Carel Bouckaert is going to focus on optimization of the production processes. Under the leadership of Bouckaert the number of employees at VDL Nedcar has grown over the past year by more than 2,000 to approximately 6,500 employees.

VDL Bus Venlo, part of VDL Bus & Coach, is going to convert the new patrol cars for the Dutch national police on behalf of Mercedes-Benz. The agreement between the police and Mercedes-Benz was signed at the NIDV Symposium & Exhibition in Rotterdam on Thursday 30 November. This includes the delivery of 1,250 converted cars of the type Mercedes B‑Class. These cars will replace the current patrol cars, which are based on the Volkswagen Touran, starting in 2018.

VDL Groep launched the new website today!

On Monday 13 November VDL Foundation presented a cheque for €40,000 to Stichting Leergeld Eindhoven. This gift from VDL Foundation will be used to provide swimming lessons and bicycles for children from families with little disposable income. VDL Foundation is affiliated with VDL Groep and provides financial support to social initiatives in the field of care and welfare.

Belgian passenger transport company De Lijn has ordered 66 VDL Citea’s SLE hybrid and 55 VDL Citea’s SLE in the diesel version from VDL Bus & Coach. “We are proud that we can supply to De Lijn and are confident our buses will make a very positive contribution to the sustainability and profitability of the De Lijn fleet.’’ The buses are made at VDL Bus Roeselare. VDL Bus & Coach is the only bus manufacturer that carries out its production exclusively in Western Europe. “This order is therefore also very important for employment in Belgium”, says Peter Wouters, Managing Director of VDL Bus Roeselare. All the vehicles are to be delivered in 2018 and early 2019 and will be deployed on various lines in Flanders.

The Dutch passenger transport company Connexxion has placed an order with VDL Bus & Coach for 62 MidCity’s Electric and 40 VDL Citea’s LLE-120 Euro 6. This is the first major order for this vehicle, which was only recently added to the VDL portfolio. All the vehicles will be used in the ‘Noord-Holland Noord’ concession in the province of the same name. This concession will become operational on the end of July 2018.

VDL Groep takes action in the field of smart mobility. The industrial family firm with its head office in Eindhoven shows that electric mobility is already available and forms the basis for future mobility concepts that will have a major impact on our lives, such as autonomous driving and connectivity. VDL Automated Vehicles, the business unit that focuses on autonomous vehicles for goods transport, has received new follow-up orders from chemicals group BASF and logistics company Katoen Natie. New autonomous vehicles are to be delivered to these customers in Germany and Singapore. The follow-up orders are worth millions of euros.

After 42 years of service, Wim Maathuis is retiring today. 65-year-old Wim Maathuis has been one of the pillars of VDL Groep, having since 1975 experienced everything that has taken place at the industrial family company with its head office in Eindhoven.

Following on from the electrification of heavy duty mobility in the form of cars, buses, automated guided vehicles and tractor units, VDL Groep intends to continue help reducing the emissions from means of transport. The family-owned international industrial business headquartered in Eindhoven will now be supplying systems for ships that comply with the latest international requirements on the emission of harmful substances. For this project, VDL has entered into a joint venture with AEC Maritime, the Eindhoven-based specialist in air cleaning, that develops and markets filter systems for ships. These so-called scrubbers filter the sulphur particles and other components from the exhaust gases emitted by ship engines.

The first BMW passenger car ever made in the Netherlands rolled off the line at VDL Nedcar in Born today. Following months of preparation the automotive plant of industrial family company VDL Groep, headquartered in Eindhoven, has begun production of the BMW X1, one of the success stories of the German automotive brand. VDL Nedcar is now building four models for the BMW Group: the MINI 3-door (since 2014), the MINI Convertible (since 2015), the MINI Countryman (since 2016), including the Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) version (since March 2017), and as of today the BMW X1.

VDL Groep in Eindhoven has succeeded in achieving the predicted growth in the first half of 2017. Combined turnover at the end of the first six months amounted to €2.4bn. This is a 53% increase compared to the first half of 2016 (€1.6bn). The result after tax for the first six months showed an increase of over 20%, to €74.6m. At the end of the first six months of 2016 the result was €61.9m. The total order book (excluding the Car assembly division) remains stable at around €800m. The number of employees has increased from 11,827 in mid-2016 to 15,581 a year later.

VDL Groep has taken over Kaal Masten of Oss. Today, Thursday 6 July, the international industrial family business headquartered in Eindhoven acquired all shares of the Netherlands' largest mast manufacturer. All of Kaal Masten's approximately 125 employees (115 FTE) will stay on as part of the acquisition. The amount involved in the takeover will not be disclosed.

To organize its growth, industrial family business VDL Groep, headquartered in Eindhoven, continues to strengthen its board of directors. Two new vice presidents will join the board of directors with effect from 1 July 2017. They are Marc van Doorn and Rolf-Jan Zweep.