VDL Nedcar

VDL Nedcar B.V.
Limited liability company
Industry Automaker
Predecessor Netherlands Car B.V. (NedCar)
Founded 1967 (DAF Born)
August 1991 (NedCar)
December 2012 (VDL Nedcar)
Headquarters Born, Netherlands
Key people
 Joost Govaarts (Director)
Products Automobiles
Revenue €1,120.9 million (2006)
€15.3 million (2006)
Number of employees
 c. 1,500 (2012)
Parent VDL Groep
Website vdlnedcar.nl

VDL Nedcar is an automotive manufacturing company based in Born, Netherlands. Since December 2012 it is owned by the Dutch industrial conglomerate VDL Groep. Previously it was owned by Mitsubishi Motors and Volvo, and has its origins as a DAF factory, being officially inaugurated in June 1968.

It is the only large-scale car manufacturer in the Netherlands, with a 927,000-square metre site, and a production capacity of approximately 200,000 vehicles per year.[1] Nedcar produced its millionth vehicle, a Mitsubishi Space Star, on October 4, 2000. The factory itself has produced more than 4.5 million cars since 1967.[1][2]

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.[3] When financial difficulties threatened to close it down in the early 1990s the government stepped in to ensure its survival.[4]

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 February 15, 1999 the Dutch government sold its shares to its two partners, which then owned 50 percent each. Later, on March 30, 2001, Volvo sold its shares to Mitsubishi, which then owned 100 percent.[5] 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.[6] The last Volvo automobiles were built in 2004.

NedCar produced the Smart Forfour from 2004 to 2006

Between 2004 and 2012 the Mitsubishi Colt[7] 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.[8] Since then, European market versions of the Mitsubishi Outlander have had their production transferred from Japan to the Netherlands from 2008,[9] while the Outlander-based Citroen C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007 were also planned to be assembled at Born for the European market,[10] but this was postponed indefinitely because of slow sales of these models.[11] Labour union FNV, NedCar COO Joost Goovaarts and the works council have said it is a step towards securing the future of the plant.[12]

In 2012, Mitsubishi announced it would stop producing cars in the Netherlands.[13]

Dutch coach manufacturer 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.[14]

Production

After the cessation of Mitsubishi manufacturing in 2012, production restarted in 2014 with the new Mini Hatch model.[15]

Models and production years

Volvo 480

Annual output

Year Units Models
1992 94,019 Volvo 440/460, Volvo 480
1993 80,246 Volvo 440/460, Volvo 480
1994 92,044 Volvo 440/460, Volvo 480
1995 98,454 Volvo 440/460, Volvo 480, Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma
1996 145,090 Volvo 440/460, Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma
1997 197,225 Volvo 440/460, Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma
1998 242,804 Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma, Mitsubishi Space Star
1999 262,196 Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma, Mitsubishi Space Star
2000 214,974 Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma, Mitsubishi Space Star
2001 189,188 Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma, Mitsubishi Space Star
2002 182,368 Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma, Mitsubishi Space Star
2003 163,130 Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma, Mitsubishi Space Star
2004 187,600 Volvo S40/V40, Mitsubishi Carisma, Mitsubishi Colt, Mitsubishi Space Star, Smart Forfour
2005 115,079 Mitsubishi Colt, Mitsubishi Space Star, Smart Forfour
2006 87,332 Mitsubishi Colt, Smart Forfour
2007 61,912 Mitsubishi Colt
2008 59,223 Mitsubishi Colt, Mitsubishi Outlander
2009 50,620[18] Mitsubishi Colt, Mitsubishi Outlander
2010 48,025 Mitsubishi Colt, Mitsubishi Outlander
2011 47,000[19] Mitsubishi Colt, Mitsubishi Outlander

By 2011, the Nedcar factory produced 4.3% of the global output of Mitsubishi.

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, 4.25m long and fitted with a four-cylinder petrol engine. It was constructed with a mix of aluminium and plastics.

References

  1. 1 2 "Key facts and figures", Nedcar official site
  2. ↑ "1,000,000th NedCar car produced", Mitsubishi Motors press release, October 4, 2000
  3. ↑ http://www.vdlnedcar.nl/?page/4842402/Profile.aspx
  4. ↑ http://www.vdlnedcar.nl/data/uploads/VDL_Nedcar/history_en.pdf
  5. ↑ "Netherlands Car B.V. to become MMC subsidiary after acquisition of additional shares", Mitsubishi Motors press release, April 4, 2001
  6. ↑ "NedCar production target", Meuse-Rhine Journal, September 22, 2001
  7. ↑ "Mitsubishi Motors to Unveil New European Colt at Geneva Motor Show", Mitsubishi Motors press release, January 26, 2004
  8. ↑ "Strike at Mitsubishi factory", 4Car, April 21, 2006
  9. ↑ "Mitsubishi Motors transfers Outlander production for Europe", Mitsubishi Motors press release, September 18, 2007
  10. ↑ "Mitsubishi Motors transfers production of SUV for PSA Peugeot Citroen", Mitsubishi Motors press release, March 27, 2008
  11. ↑ "What next for Mitsubishi’s NedCar and Normal plants?". Automotive World. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  12. ↑ "SUV redt Nedcar voor een paar jaar". Frits Baltesen, NRC Handelsblad, September 18, 2007
  13. ↑ "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.
  14. ↑ "Nedcar rescue deal finalised". dutchnews. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  15. ↑ "Official start to Mini production in the Netherlands". Automotive Logistics. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  16. ↑ http://www.telegraaf.nl/autovisie/autovisie_nieuws/mini/22378329/__Mini_voor_Amerika_ook_uit_Nederland__.html
  17. ↑ http://www.telegraaf.nl/autovisie/autovisie_nieuws/mini/22245887/__Nederlandse_Mini_start_met_drie_deuren__.html
  18. ↑ "What Next For Mitsubishi’s NedCar And Normal Plants?". Automotive World. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  19. ↑ "Mitsubishi to Shut Dutch Car Factory". Wall Street Journal. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2013.

External links

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