Van Hool NV was a Belgian coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, coaches, trolleybuses, and trailers.
Most of the buses and coaches were 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.[2]
History
Bernard Van Hool (1902–1974) 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 1947 in response to other farmers asking for similar vehicles.[3] 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").[4][5]
In the early years, Van Hool was a bus coachbuilder using motor vehicle chassis from other companies;[3] 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
Product range (Europe)
In Europe, Van Hool has a broad range of coaches, though all designs share similar looks and are based on the same platform, the TX. The same philosophy is used on the transit bus range, the A-series. In recent years, the company has been focusing on new propulsion technologies, introducing fuel-cell hybrid buses as well as diesel-electric hybrids.
Previous products
T8 series touring coach
The T8 platform was introduced in 1979. The body was based on the Alizee bodywork that had been launched the previous year. Over the course of several years, a range of touring coaches were developed based on this platform, each distinguished by a number and a name, following a clear naming convention. For example, in "TD824 Astromega": 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.
Model names used during the T8's production run included:
- T = Touringcar (touring coach)
- D = Dubbeldek (double deck)
- 8 = Part of the T8 series
Product range (North America)
Due to the Buy America Act[11] of 1982, only coach buses were introduced in the United States starting in 1987, and were aimed at the private and charter bus market. Low floor transit coaches by Van Hool were not introduced until 2002. Currently, Van Hool has four separate product lines: the TX series deluxe touring coaches, the CX series touring coaches, the TD925 and TDX double-decker coach, and the A-series transit buses. Van Hool's exclusive dealer in the United States is ABC Companies.
In 2018, Van Hool Headquarters announced plans to construct a new manufacturing facility in Morristown, Tennessee designed to produce public transit buses. The facility was planned to open in 2020, and employ 600 workers, capable of making approximately 400 buses annually.[12] In 2022, the planned factory was delayed until 2025, with Van Hool citing the downturn in the market for tour buses due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.[13] However, construction never began and in April 2024, Van Hool declared bankruptcy and was acquired by VDL Groep and GRW.[14]
Products
Transit buses
Europe
- A308 midibus, full low floor, with side-mounted engine. Also available as diesel-electric hybrid.
- A309 midibus, low entry (low floor up to the second door). Also available as diesel-electric hybrid.
- A320 standard bus (out of production)
- A300 standard bus, full low floor, with side-mounted engine. Also available as diesel-electric hybrid.
- A300 CNG standard bus
- A360 standard bus, low entry. Also available as diesel-electric hybrid.
- A330 standard bus, full low floor, engine placed horizontally in the back. Also available as diesel-electric hybrid.
- A330 CNG standard bus
- AG300 articulated bus. Also available as diesel-electric hybrid.
In motorsport
Van Hool owned Team Astromega, which competed in International Formula 3000 and A1 Grand Prix with drivers including family member Mikke Van Hool.
External links
- ABC Companies (North American Vanhool Dealer)
References
- Van Hool appoints advisor Marc Zwaaneveld as Co-CEO to accelerate recovery Sustainable Bus, 17 January 2024, retrieved 2024-03-22^
- Van Hool’s trustee have accepted the takeover bid by VDL – Schmitz 11 April 2024, retrieved 2024-04-11^
- Christian Marquordt. Van Hool - swansong for a major bus manufacturer