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VDL Nedcar B.V.

VDL Nedcar Factory at Born, Netherlands
Company type	Besloten vennootschap
Industry	Automotive
Predecessor	DAF Car B.V. (1968–1975) Volvo Car B.V. (1975–1992) NedCar B.V. (1992–2012)
Founded	1967
Headquarters	Born, Netherlands
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Willem van der Leegte (Chairman VDL Groep B.V.) Paul van Vroonhoven (Managing director) John van Soerland (CEO VDL Nedcar B.V.)
Products	Automobiles List Mini Hatch (2014–2024) Mini Convertible (2015–2024) Mini Countryman (2016–2023) BMW X1 (F48) (2017–2022)
Production output	125,666 vehicles (2020)
Revenue	€2,3 billion (2017)
Owner	VDL Groep B.V.
Number of employees	4,951 (2019)
Website	www.vdlnedcar.nl

VDL Nedcar is an automotive manufacturing company in Born, Netherlands. Since December 2012 it has been owned by the Dutch industrial conglomerate VDL Groep. Previous owners were Mitsubishi Motors and Volvo Cars. The company had its origins in a DAF car factory which opened in 1968. VDL Nedcar is the largest automotive factory in the Netherlands, with a production capacity of 240,000 vehicles a year. It produced about 120,000 cars in 2020. It is also the only manufacturer of production vehicles in the Netherlands. VDL Nedcar produced its millionth vehicle, a Mitsubishi Space Star, on 4 October 2000. VDL Nedcar currently is closed, because the contract with BMW Group is not been renewed.

Location

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VDL Nedcar in Born is located in Limburg, a province in the south of the Netherlands. VDL Nedcar has direct access to the ports of Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Antwerp and Hamburg. Nearby is an inland barge terminal and a rail terminal, supported by airports such as Maastricht/Aachen, Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Brussels, Cologne and Düsseldorf.

Area development and expansion of VDL Nedcar

In 2019, VDL Nedcar and the province of Limburg signed an agreement on the sale of land around the factory, increasing the total site to about 1,500,000 square meters. Permits are expected to be granted in late 2021 for another expansion of 59 hectares, allowing up to 400,000 vehicles a year to be produced.

History

The factory was founded in 1967 by the former Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (DAF), and continued after the takeover of its parent by Volvo in 1972–1975. When financial difficulties threatened to close it down in the early 1990s the Dutch government stepped in to ensure its survival.

A joint venture between the Dutch State, Volvo and Mitsubishi Motors began in August 1991, although it was 1996 before the name was officially changed from Volvo Car B.V. to Netherlands Car B.V. On 15 February 1999 the Dutch government sold its shares to its two partners, which then owned 50 percent each. Later, on 30 March 2001, Volvo sold its shares to Mitsubishi, which then owned 100 percent. The plant's long-term survival was in question from 2001, when then Mitsubishi Motors Chief Operating Officer Rolf Eckrodt stated that its annual vehicle production capacity had to increase to 280,000 if it wished to remain economically viable. The last Volvo automobiles were built in 2004.

Between 2004 and 2012 the Mitsubishi Colt was built at Nedcar. The factory also produced the Colt's sister vehicle, the Smart Forfour, for DaimlerChrysler until production ceased in mid-2006. Industrial action was taken in 2005 in protest against the discontinuation of the Smart Forfour, although Mitsubishi confirmed its commitment to keeping the factory open as far as the end of the Colt's life cycle in 2009. Since then, European market versions of the Mitsubishi Outlander have had their production transferred from Japan to the Netherlands from 2008, while the Outlander-based Citroën C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007 were also planned to be assembled at Born for the European market, but this was postponed indefinitely because of slow sales of these models. Labour union FNV, NedCar COO Joost Goovaarts and the works council have said it is a step towards securing the future of the plant. In 2012, Mitsubishi announced it would stop producing cars in the Netherlands.

Dutch industrial group VDL acquired the factory in December 2012 and renamed it VDL Nedcar. VDL entered negotiations with BMW which resulted in the announcement that certain Mini models would be produced in the Limburg factory from 2014 onwards. Since 2017, the BMW X1 (F48) has been produced at VDL Nedcar, which shares production with the BMW Group plant at Regensburg. In October 2020, VDL Nedcar announced that it would not receive a follow-up order for the Mini Countryman from BMW Group for the longer term, leaving it to search for another manufacturer to fill production capacity.

In June 2021, U.S. EV startup Canoo announced it would use VDL for its first run of the Lifestyle Vehicle starting in 2022, an interim measure as it builds its Oklahoma factory. Member of parliament Silvio Erkens of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) suggested in 2024 that the site could be used to produce defense materiel, when the Netherlands expanded its defense budget following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Ministry of Defence later disclosed it was talking with VDL.

Production

After the cessation of Mitsubishi manufacturing in 2012, production restarted in 2014 with the new Mini Hatch model.

Final production

The last cars produced by VDL Nedcar are

On February 16, 2024, the last car, a silver-grey Mini convertible, ran off the production line, two weeks prior to the end of BMW's contract. It is uncertain if car production will ever commence again.

Past models and production years

• DAF 33 (1967–1972)
• DAF 44 (1967–1975)
• DAF 55 (1968–1972)
• DAF 66 (1972–1975)
• DAF 46 (1975–1976)
• Volvo 66 (1975–1981)
• Volvo 340/360 (1976–1991)
• Volvo 480 (1986–1995)
• Volvo 440/460 (1987–1997)
• Volvo S40/V40 (1995–2004)
• Mitsubishi Carisma (1995–2004)
• Mitsubishi Space Star (1998–2005)
• Smart Forfour (2004–2006)
• Mitsubishi Colt (2004–2012)
• Mitsubishi Outlander (2008–2012)
• Mini Hatch 3-door (2014–2024)
• Mini Convertible (2015–2024), the only plant that assembled the Mini Convertible
• BMW X1 (F48) (2017–2022)
• Mini Countryman (2017–2023)

Annual output

In 2011, the Nedcar factory produced 4.3% of the global output of Mitsubishi. However, vehicle assembly for Mitsubishi came to an end during 2012.

NedCar Access

NedCar displayed the Access concept car at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show to demonstrate the company's product design and engineering capabilities. It was a 5-door hatchback, 4.25 m (13.9 ft) long and fitted with a four-cylinder petrol engine. It was constructed with a mix of aluminium and plastics.

References

1. "About VDL". VDL Groep. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
2. "Annual financial report VDL Groep" (PDF). VDL Groep. 4 June 2020. p. 68. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
3. ^ "BMW Group Report 2020" (PDF). BMW Group. March 2021. p. 94. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
4. "Annual Report 2017" (PDF). VDL Groep. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
5. "Annual financial report VDL Groep" (PDF). VDL Groep. 4 June 2020. p. 16. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
6. "Annual financial report VDL Groep" (PDF). VDL Groep. 4 June 2020. p. 73. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
7. "Home".
8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "Netherlands Car B.V. to become MMC subsidiary after acquisition of additional shares" Archived 2014-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, Mitsubishi Motors press release, 4 April 2001
10. "NedCar production target", Meuse-Rhine Journal, 22 September 2001
11. "Mitsubishi Motors to Unveil New European Colt at Geneva Motor Show", Mitsubishi Motors press release, 26 January 2004
12. "Strike at Mitsubishi factory", 4Car, 21 April 2006
13. "Mitsubishi Motors transfers Outlander production for Europe", Mitsubishi Motors press release, 18 September 2007
14. "Mitsubishi Motors transfers production of SUV for PSA Peugeot Citroën", Mitsubishi Motors press release, 27 March 2008
15. "What next for Mitsubishi's NedCar and Normal plants?". Automotive World. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
16. "SUV redt Nedcar voor een paar jaar". Frits Baltesen, NRC Handelsblad, 18 September 2007
17. "Notice regarding conclusion of a principal agreement on share transfer of the European subsidiary production site" (PDF). Mitsubishi Motors. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
18. "Nedcar rescue deal finalised". dutchnews. October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
19. "VDL Nedcar: no new follow-up order for MINI Countryman". VDL Nedcar. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
20. GmbH, finanzen net. "Canoo Names VDL Nedcar as Contract Manufacturing Partner". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
21. O'Kane, Sean (17 June 2021). "Canoo will build its electric vehicles at a new Oklahoma factory". The Verge. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
22. Estrada, Zac (17 June 2021). "Canoo Will Build Its New Electric Vehicles At Two Plants In 2022". dot.LA. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
23. De Horde, Cor (26 May 2024). "VVD wil Nedcar-terrein bestemmen voor defensiebedrijven" [VVD wants to repurpose Nedcar premises for defense companies]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 May 2024.
24. "Official start to Mini production in the Netherlands". Automotive Logistics. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
25. "Last MINI rolls of VDL Nedcar production lines in Born". 16 February 2024.
26. "Mini voor Amerika ook uit Nederland". 13 March 2014.
27. "VDL Nedcar gaat de nieuwe Mini Cabrio maken". 23 October 2015.
28. "BMW Group confirms additional production of BMW X1 at VDL Nedcar". www.press.bmwgroup.com. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
29. "Klap voor VDL Nedcar! BMW stopt Nederlandse productie - AutoReview.nl". Auto Review (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 March 2023.
30. "What Next For Mitsubishi's NedCar And Normal Plants?". Automotive World. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
31. "Kengetallen / Key figures .... Productievolume (stuks) / Production volume (units)" (PDF). Financieel jaarverslag - Annual report 2012. VDL Nedcar (previously Netherlands Car B.V. – NedCar for short –). 24 May 2013. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
32. ^ "KEY FIGURES ... Production volume (units)" (PDF). ANNUAL REPORT 2015. VDL Nedcar B.V. (VDL Nedcar). 18 April 2016. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
33. "REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD ... Products and production volume" (PDF). ANNUAL REPORT 2015. VDL Nedcar B.V. (VDL Nedcar). 18 April 2016. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
34. "Products and production volume, Page 9" (PDF). VDL Annual Report 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
35. "Products and production volume, Page 14" (PDF). VDL Annual Report 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
36. "PROFILE OF VDL NEDCAR" (PDF). ANNUAL REPORT 2015. VDL Nedcar B.V. (VDL Nedcar). 18 April 2016. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2015.

External links

• NedCar
• Nedcar at Linkedin

v t e Automotive industry in the Netherlands
Automotive industry Transport in the Netherlands Economy of the Netherlands
Domestic manufacturers	Burton DAF Trucks Donkervoort GINAF Lightyear 0 PAL-V International Spyker N.V. Spyker Cars Terberg Vencer VDL Groep Jonckheere VDL Berkhof VDL Bova VDL Bus & Coach VDL Nedcar Waaijenberg
Foreign manufacturers registered in the country	CNH Industrial Ferrari Iveco Stellantis
Active volume-production factories	VDL Nedcar
Motor racing constructors	APP Automotive Automotive Technology InMotion Saker Cars
Solar racing teams	Nuon Solar Team Solar Team Eindhoven Solar Team Twente
Components manufacturers	Chassis Brakes International KONI shock absorbers NXP Semiconductors
Automotive design	Vandenbrink Design Category:Dutch automobile designers
Defunct manufacturers	Brons CNH Global DAF NV DAF cars Den Oudsten Coaches Eysink Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Ruska (car) Spyker / Trompenburg United Bus
Defunct motor racing	Boro (Formula One) Carly Motors Spyker F1
Other	AutoRAI Euro NCAP Roads in the Netherlands
(1) Under foreign ownership (2) Under automatic stay; bankruptcy petition was filed, but not granted Commons: Automobile manufacturers of the Netherlands

• VDL Nedcar
• Car manufacturers of the Netherlands
• Motor vehicle assembly plants in the Netherlands
• Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1967
• Companies based in Limburg (Netherlands)
• South Limburg (Netherlands)
• Buildings and structures in Sittard-Geleen
• Contract vehicle manufacturers
• Dutch companies established in 1967