There are major problems at the Belgian bus builder Van Hool, a direct competitor of VDL from Eindhoven. The group is suffering from the impact of corona, high energy costs, inflation and global problems with the supply of parts. VDL recognizes the problems Van Hool is facing and has them too. “The bus sector was hit very hard during the corona period, no more coaches were driving around, no more buses were ordered.”
The Belgian company Van Hool has announced that it is laying off 1,100 employees, of which 830 this year. To reduce costs, part of production has been moved to Skopje in North Macedonia. In addition to layoffs, Van Hool also has to look for money. If it does not find 45 million euros before the end of this month, bankruptcy is at risk.
A VDL spokesperson says he cannot look inside Van Hool’s kitchen, but does recognize problems that exist ‘industry-wide’. Especially when it comes to the supply of parts and materials. This concerns, for example, chips, which the automotive sector also has a shortage of. A surplus of chips is not expected until this or next year.
“When no buses were produced during the corona period, suppliers started focusing on other products and other sectors. Nothing was ordered and nothing was made. That has still not been repaired. In the figures for the first half of 2023, VDL announced that ‘getting control of on-time deliveries would remain a challenge’.
The shortages are still there and so we are behind on deliveries,” said the spokesperson. For example, buses have been ordered from VDL for Hermes in Eindhoven. “These should have been delivered two years ago, but we are only now doing so.”
VDL, an industrial family business with its head office in Eindhoven, announced in the figures for the first six months of last year that it expects a profit for 2023 that will be 5 to 10 percent higher than a year earlier.
Of the four different parts of the company, only the Buses division saw turnover fall by 40 percent. This part also makes a loss. “We just started making a new bus during a difficult period, which was an extra challenge.” VDL expects a lot from the new electric city bus, the VDL Citea, and is counting on an increasing demand for this type of sustainable buses.
In the first half of 2023, VDL achieved a turnover of 3.2 billion euros, 22 percent more than a year earlier. VDL employs more than 16,000 employees. The company will release its annual figures for 2023 within a few weeks.
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