NedCar

Netherlands Car B.V.

Type	Limited liability company
Industry	Automaker
Founded	August 1991
Headquarters	Dr. Hub van Doorneweg 1, Sittard-Geleen , Netherlands
Key people	Makoto Ochi (Chairman & CEO) Joost Govaarts (President & COO)
Products	Mitsubishi Colt Mitsubishi Outlander
Revenue	€1,120.9 million (2006)
Net income	€15.3 million (2006)
Employees	c. 1,600 (2008)
Parent	Mitsubishi Motors (100%)
Website	NedCar.nl

NedCar, officially Netherlands Car B.V. and a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Motors, is the only large-scale automaker in the Netherlands. Based in Born on a 927,000 m² site, it has a capacity of approximately 200,000 vehicles,^[1] and produced its millionth vehicle, a Mitsubishi Space Star, on October 4, 2000. The factory itself has produced more than 4.5 million cars since 1967.^[1][2]

History

The factory was founded in 1967 by the former Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek (DAF), and continued after the takeover of its parent by Volvo in 1972–75. When financial difficulties threatened to close it down in the early 1990s the government stepped in to ensure its survival. A joint venture between the Dutch State, Volvo and Mitsubishi Motors began in August 1991, although it was 1996 before the name was officially changed from Volvo Car B.V. to Netherlands Car B.V. On February 15, 1999 the Dutch government sold its shares to its two partners, which then owned 50 percent each. Later, on March 30, 2001, Volvo sold its shares to Mitsubishi, which now owns 100 percent.^[3] The last Volvo automobiles were built in 2004.

Production

Currently NedCar produces one vehicle, the Mitsubishi Colt, which has been built since 2004.^[4] It also produced the Colt's sister vehicle, the Smart Forfour, for DaimlerChrysler until production ceased in mid-2006. The plant's long-term survival was in question from 2001, when then Mitsubishi Motors Chief Operating Officer Rolf Eckrodt stated that its annual vehicle production capacity had to increase to 280,000 if it wished to remain economically viable.^[5] Industrial action in 2005 protested the discontinuation of the Smart Forfour, although Mitsubishi confirmed its commitment to keeping the factory open as far as the end of the Colt's life cycle in 2009.^[6] Since then, European market versions of the Mitsubishi Outlander have had their production transferred from Japan to the Netherlands from 2008,^[7] while since 2009 the Outlander-based Citroen C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007 for the European market have also been assembled at Born.^[8] Labour union FNV, NedCar COO Joost Goovaarts and the works council have said it is a step towards securing the future of the plant.^[9]

NedCar produced the Smart Forfour from 2004 to 2006.

Current and future models

• Mitsubishi Colt/CZ3 (2004–present)
• Mitsubishi Outlander (2008-present)

Historic models

• DAF 33 (1967–72)
• DAF 44 (1967–75)
• DAF 55 (1968–72)
• DAF 66 (1972–75)
• DAF 46 (1975–76)
• Volvo 66 (1975–81)
• Volvo 340/360 (1976–91)
• Volvo 480 (1986–95)
• Volvo 440/460 (1987–97)
• Volvo S40/V40 (1995–2004)
• Mitsubishi Carisma (1995–2004)
• Mitsubishi Space Star (1998–2005)
• Smart Forfour (2004–06)

Annual output

Footnotes

References

Citations

External links

• NedCar