Industry
Limited work is expected to resume at Van Hool’s industrial vehicles division next week.
Next week, according to ACLVB union secretary Christophe Van Audenhove, work would resume at the Van Hool site in Koningshooikt. Since the bankruptcy on Monday April 8, the factory site has been deserted. There would be limited activity again in the industrial vehicles division. The trailer division is taken over by the South African GRW, part of the German Schmitz/Cargobull. The takeover has been completed.
The takeover of the bus division by VDL Groep is more difficult because an agreement must first be reached from the competition authorities. The combination VDL and Van Hool will be the only bus builder in the Benelux, apart from the small Ebusco. We will have to wait a few more weeks before the bus part can be restarted. The Van Hool factory in North Macedonia is still functioning for the time being, because it is not covered by the bankruptcy.
According to Van Audenhove, activities in the trailer division will only be restarted very slowly: the restart must not be completed until the end of June. In the bus section it is still unclear what VDL will take over. Van Audenhove says that the first contacts between the unions and the buyers were positive. The ACV has heard that there are still many uncertainties and that the restart is confusing. (sdc)
