Van Hool

VDL-Van Hool ( ) (formerly known as Van Hool NV) is a Belgian coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, coaches, trolleybuses, and trailers. Most of the buses and coaches are built entirely by Van Hool, with engines and axles sourced from Caterpillar, Cummins, DAF and MAN and gearboxes from ZF or Voith. Some production involved building bus and coach bodies on separate bus chassis from manufacturers such as Volvo and Scania. Worldwide, Van Hool employed 4,500 people and manufactured more than 1,700 buses and coaches (bodyworks and complete vehicles combined) and 5,000 trailers each year. It sold an average of 600 coaches annually in the United States. Van Hool filed for bankruptcy on Friday, 5 April 2024, and was declared bankrupt the following Monday (8 April 2024) by the Commercial Court of Belgium. On 10 April 2024, it was announced that Van Hool's trustees had accepted a takeover bid from Netherlands-based bus manufacturer VDL and Germany-based semi-trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull.

VDL-Van Hool ( ) (formerly known as Van Hool NV) is a Belgian coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, coaches, trolleybuses, and trailers. Most of the buses and coaches are built entirely by Van Hool, with engines and axles sourced from Caterpillar, Cummins, DAF and MAN and gearboxes from ZF or Voith. Some production involved building bus and coach bodies on separate bus chassis from manufacturers such as Volvo and Scania. Worldwide, Van Hool employed 4,500 people and manufactured more than 1,700 buses and coaches (bodyworks and complete vehicles combined) and 5,000 trailers each year. It sold an average of 600 coaches annually in the United States. Van Hool filed for bankruptcy on Friday, 5 April 2024, and was declared bankrupt the following Monday (8 April 2024) by the Commercial Court of Belgium. On 10 April 2024, it was announced that Van Hool's trustees had accepted a takeover bid from Netherlands-based bus manufacturer VDL and Germany-based semi-trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull.

History

Bernard Van Hool (1902–1974¹) was a farmer in Koningshooikt, near Lier, Belgium; he and wife Bertha Van Asch had eight sons and two daughters. Bernard built his own bus to take workers to his farm in Koningshooikt, and founded the company in 1947¹ in response to other farmers asking for similar vehicles. The company was a family business: of the 22 initial employees, five were related to Bernard, including his brother-in-law and his four eldest sons; it changed its name in 1954 to Van Hool en Zonen ("and Sons"). In the early years, Van Hool was a bus coachbuilder using motor vehicle chassis from other companies; it introduced serial production and exported their products all over Europe. The company has also been active on the North American market since the mid 1980s.

Van Hool-Fiat

(2022)]] On February 15, 1957, Van Hool signed a commercial agreement with Fiat; Van Hool would incorporate Fiat engines and other mechanical components (gearboxes, axles, steering) in its vehicles. It developed from a coachbuilder to a Belgian manufacturer of integral buses and coaches, known as Van Hool-Fiat. Alongside these activities, the company continued as a coachbuilder, enabling further expansion. In August 1958, a year and a half after the agreement with Fiat was signed, the 100th Van Hool-Fiat was delivered, and by July 1961, the figure had exceeded 500. The co-operation agreement with Fiat was terminated in 1981.

Global expansion

Bernard van Hool retired from daily management in 1969 and died in 1974. Between 1974 and 1978 Van Hool and Dundalk-based coachbuilders Thomas McArdle entered into a partnership known as Van Hool McArdle to take over the bus building factory of CIÉ at Spa Road, Dublin, Ireland. The factory mainly built buses for CIÉ in Ireland plus some for export to the UK. The factory was then closed leaving the Republic of Ireland without a bus manufacturer for several years. TD824 Astromega in Japan (2012)]] Van Hool entered the Japanese market in the early-1980s when the Meitetsu Group imported several Astromega double-decker buses for use as highway buses, followed by Hato Bus who imported two Astromegas in 1997. Since 2016, Van Hool and Scania have jointly developed and produced the TDX24 Astromega double-decker highway bus (also marketed as the ) solely for the Japanese market, as the spiritual successor to the Mitsubishi Fuso Aero King which was discontinued six years earlier. In 1990, Van Hool purchased the coachbuilding business of LAG Manufacturing in Belgium and continued producing their EOS models for about ten years.

Bankruptcy and acquisition

Crisis manager Marc Zwaaneveld was brought into the company in early 2024 as co-CEO alongside Filip Van Hool. As part of a reorganization plan, Zwaaneveld announced that Van Hool would discontinue transit bus production on March 11 and shift production to North Macedonia. However, the family could not agree on implementation; in an interview later that month with De Standaard, he said bankruptcy was unavoidable. Van Hool filed for bankruptcy on Friday, 5 April 2024 and was declared bankrupt the following Monday (8 April 2024) by the Commercial Court of Belgium, with production stopping and putting 1550 jobs at risk. On 10 April 2024, it was announced that Van Hool's trustees had accepted a takeover bid from Netherlands-based bus manufacturer VDL and Germany-based semi-trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull. In June 2026, it was announced that Dutch transport company G.A. Den Otter Trucks purchased the remaining 30 hectares of Van Hool grounds. T = Touringcar (touring coach) D = Dubbeldek (double deck) 8 = Part of the T8 series 24 = theoretical maximum number of seat rows Astromega = name of the double deck integrals In 1991, an updated "T8 New Look" was introduced, called the T9 in its North American version. Production was ended in the late 1990s, following the introduction of the new (European) T9 platform. Van Hool Alizée HE-II body on a Scania K113CRB]] Model names used during the T8's production run included: Alicron = integral single deck coach (standard height) Acron = integral single deck coach (high floor) Astron = integral single deck (formerly interdeck) coach ( high, two-axle, mid engine, small lower saloon at rear) Alizee = short length integral single deck coach, single deck coach body on other manufacturers' chassis Alligator = integral articulated single deck coach Altano = integral interdeck coach (low driving position and passenger seating above driver) Aragon = single deck coach body built by Van Hool España on other manufacturers' chassis Astral = interdeck coach body on mid-engined Volvo B10M chassis (two- or three-axle, small lower saloon at rear) Astrobel = double deck coach body on other manufacturers' chassis ( high, three-axle, rear engine). A one-off extra-high body was also built on a mid-engined Volvo B10MT chassis for use in Britain. Amarant = integral double deck coach ( high, two-axle, rear engine) Astromega = integral double deck coach ( high, three-axle, rear engine) A = Autobus (transit bus) G = Geleed (articulated) 500 = height of the floor, in millimeters Production of the A-series continued into the early 21st century, when it was replaced by the newA-series.

Current products

T9 series touring coaches

Van Hool Astromega TD927 coach]] The T9 series was launched in 1995. It included a completely new body design and many other changes. The same philosophy as with the T8 was applied: one platform, many different versions. Also, the naming convention was retained. Over the years, many new variants have been developed. Different models (all available in at least two lengths, see 'products' below) include the Atlino and Atlon, with different floor heights, the Alicron, Acron and Astron, standard touring coaches with different heights and thus different luggage space, the Altano, which has an underfloor cockpit, the Astronef, which features a sloping theatre-style floor, and the double deck Astromega. The T9 body is available on chassis by Scania, Volvo, and VDL, though only in Sweden and the British Isles. These motorcoaches are referred to as Alizee (single deck) and Astrobel (double deck). (The European T9 series should not be confused with the T9 series in the United States market, which corresponds with the European T8 New Look.)

TX series touring coaches

Van Hool TDX27 Astromega at Buchanan bus station]] At Busworld 2011 in Kortrijk, Belgium, Van Hool presented the successor to the T9 series. The new series is called TX.

newA series transit buses

In 2001, Van Hool introduced the newA series transit buses, replacing the A series. It featured a new body design and many other changes. A complete family was developed, with different length and configurations. VanHool A300T 1229.jpg|VanHool A300T in Greece AG280T07.jpg|Van Hool AG280T in Bulgaria Linz trolejbus 238.jpg|Van Hool ExquiCity in Austria Palermo-Airport-bjs2007-02.jpg|Van Hool AP-series bus at Palermo Airport, Italy Turkey2002 img 0576.jpg|Van Hool AP1137 in Turkey

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1377369107 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.