- Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski cuts the ribbon.
- Investment of 25 million € offers Van Hool new opportunities at home and abroad.
- More than 125 vehicles have already been produced by 430 employees in Macedonia.
Skopje, Macedonia – Mr Nikola Gruevski, Prime Minister of Macedonia, and numerous other members of the Macedonian government were present at the official inauguration of Van Hool´s new bus plant in Skopje, Macedonia. With this investment of 25 million €, the Koningshooikt-based company wishes to reaffirm and strengthen its position on the international coach and bus market in the coming years. Filip Van Hool, CEO of Van Hool NV, declared during the official inauguration that starting in 2015, a new type of coach – the “EX (pronounced : e-iks) – will be built in Macedonia for the European and other new markets.
Production in the new Van Hool plant began in July 2013. Just one year ago, the same Prime Minister of Macedonia dug the first shovelful of dirt at the ground breaking ceremony that marked the start of the plant´s construction. The first completed coach left the plant on 15 October 2013. In the meantime, 431 Macedonian employees (410 men and 21 women) are working in the brand-new plant and more than 125 coaches have already been built for the American market. This year, around 300 vehicles are being built in Macedonia for the North-American market.
During the official opening, CEO Filip Van Hool also said : “This site offers even more prospects in the short term. We are following the evolution of the bus and coach market closely, and we are convinced that for a certain type of coach, also a standard-type coach, there still remain many opportunities in Europe and other regions. For this reason, as from the fourth quarter of this year, we will be building in Skopje a vehicle that has been given the model name “EX” (pronounced: e-iks). Research, development and sale of the vehicle all take place in Koningshooikt, Belgium. We plan to present the vehicle, to the international public for the first time, at the IAA international trade fair in Hannover, Germany (25/9/2014 – 2/10/2014).
- Van Hool aims to strengthen its position in Europe and open up new markets.
- New type of standard coach will be presented at the end of September 2014 at the IAA in Hannover, Germany.
Skopje, Macedonia – During the official inauguration of the new Van Hool plant in Skopje, Macedonia, Filip Van Hool, CEO of Van Hool NV, announced that the production of a new vehicle type will be starting in the fourth quarter of this year at the company’s new site in Skopje. The new model, a standard coach that has received the name “EX” (pronounced : e-iks), will be marketed as of 2015 in Europe and other new markets.
“Van Hool wants to continue playing a significant role on the international market of buses and coaches,” says Filip Van Hool, CEO of Van Hool. “For the first time since the worldwide financial-economic crisis began, we’re again thinking in terms of growth. True to tradition, we stay in close contact with what´s going on at our customers and keep a sharp eye on how the market is evolving. What we’ve been seeing prompted us to build a new type of coach. With this new vehicle type we can even tap new markets that until recently were virtually unattainable for us. It will be a standard type coach, characterised by the high quality standards for which Van Hool is renown for. Over the past few months, the employees at the new plant in Skopje have clearly demonstrated that they can quickly make Van Hool’s high quality standards their own. The vehicle is situated in the lower segment of the international bus and coach market and, in order to be competitive, it has to be built cost-efficiently. For the more specialised work with high added value, the plant in Koningshooikt naturally remains the ideal site. We invite everyone to come take a look at the new vehicle at the major international trade fair IAA in Hannover, Germany which is being held from 25/9/2014 through 2/10/2014.”