Car manufacturer VDL Nedcar is finding it increasingly difficult to find a new client.
Recently, part of the Sterrebos was cut down for the construction of a new factory. But talks with new customers who should have cars built there have been thrown back considerably since the war in Ukraine.
Not an ideal situation
“The world has changed,” says spokesperson Miel Timmers of parent company VDL. “Geopolitical relations have changed and that is disrupting the global economy. We are also feeling the consequences of this. Entrepreneurs, for example, are much less likely to acquire capital. That is not an ideal situation for us.”
Need money
This refers to the discussions that VDL Nedcar is having with parties that may want to have cars built in Born. Often starters who need money from the capital markets. At the moment, VDL Nedcar only has one customer and that is BMW. But the construction of Minis and BMWs for the Germans will stop next year.
Rivian
The American Canoo was previously presented as a new customer, but that fell through. Other VDL companies will supply parts to Canoo, but daughter Nedcar will not benefit from that. It was subsequently announced that there were extensive talks with the American Rivian, but that has now come to a head. The Americans wanted to build electric cars. At the end of last year, investors saw it all and the Rivian share peaked to almost 200 euros, now the price is at 48 euros.
Reasonable numbers
Despite the difficult search for a new customer, VDL Nedcar presented, in its own words, ‘reasonable’ annual figures. The group as a whole saw its turnover rise by about 6 percent to almost 5 billion euros. Still less than the 5.7 billion before corona. The profit went from 97 million in 2020 to 145 million last year. Subsidiary VDL Nedcar accounted for 2.3 billion in turnover, a decrease of 12 percent. This is mainly due to the corona crisis and worldwide shortages of chips and other parts, which caused production to stop for 48 days. In the first two months of this year, there has been 18 days of non-production.
Cyber attack
VDL CEO Willem van der Leegte is nevertheless not gloomy: “At the bottom of the line we are certainly not dissatisfied and we have a strong recovery in the results.” Especially since the company was also hit by a cyber attack in the autumn. A ransom was demanded. The company will not say how much or whether that has been paid.