The merger of VDL Bus & Coach and VDL Van Hool has created one bus company: VDL Bus Group. This new company will operate with two complementary brands - VDL and Van Hool – each conveying its own identity and market focus. Both brands are represented at Busworld where the synergy between innovation and customer focus takes centre stage. In addition, two VDL Futura 3 coaches are on display, it is the Futura FHD-129 in a "Green" and "Gold" version.
This Futura 3 129 HD is 12,885mm long, 3,703mm high and the wheelbase is 6,810 mm. A 13.5-metre-long VDL Citea Low Entry will also be on display. An Astron super high-decker and an Astromega double-decker will be exhibited on behalf of the Van Hool brand. With these five buses, VDL Bus Group will position itself in both the coach market and the public transport market. Production at VDL Bus Group is organised geographically by vehicle type and brand.
The VDL Citea for public transport is manufactured at the factory in Roeselare, Belgium. The VDL Futura coaches are produced in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands. In Macedonia, the buses of Van Hool are manufactured."Combining the two companies will create a solid foundation for further growth, innovation and customer focus in the European and Northern-American bus markets", as VDL states. The VDL Bus & Coach division reported a turnover increase from €132 million in 2024 to €270 million for the first six months of this year.
This increase is due to significant improvements in deliveries. It expects the turning point to become profitable again in 2027. The VDL Groep has its headquarters in the city Eindhoven (The Netherlands). The company was founded in 1953. More than seventy years later, since 2016, the company has been managed by the third generation of the Van der Leegte family.VDL Groep employs 14,000 employees and operates in 20 countries. The group consists of more than 100 specialist operating companies that all work closely together.