Vanhool going Bankrupt???

[@tedsaylor6016]

James did the right thing here and only said things known to be public facts and pointed us to the conference where the respective CEO's will give the direction going forward. A solid video like this is why they trusted James with executive leadership.

[@Jim54_]

The EU shouldn’t have let that happen. They have been critical to infrastructure across the Union and should have been bailed out

[@camrodger8638]

I remember decades ago, as a Winnipeg resident, when Flyer faced financial issues. My less than perfect memory remembers the Manitoba provincial government dumping cash into the company, possibly becoming part owner. The name was changed to New Flyer and the rest is history. Thank you for yet another great video. The time and effort that you take to make these videos are greatly appreciated by all of us.

[@HankSnowgrandslamfishing]

The company I work for has nothing but VanHool motor coaches. it will be interesting to see how all this shakes out. Thanks for sharing.

[@PhilipKinsey]

Great videos. Sad news about Van Hool. I was always a "bus guy" and didn't realize that I wasn't the odd man out. Thanks for all of the great videos. I'm retired from a white-collar job, love to drive, and if I could pass the CDL physical, I would look into driving a bus as a new career.

[@tawandatichareva4656]

Thank you for visiting VDL

[@thomasmcmanus6575]

Thx James for the update and 411. Keep them coming. God bless you and your family. Bye from New Jersey.

[@Mr-pn2eh]

I'm a jersey boy too I wanted to work for nj transit but they decided not to move forward with me

[@askarel666]

It was a sad day in Belgium, not only for the workers that lost their jobs, but for what Van Hool represented: they were truly the skunk works division of bus building: a comfy tour bus where the back works like a regular cargo truck for band equipment ?, prisoner transport ?, Mobile doctor office ?, most nightliners for bands on tour ?, a mobile hotel that can fit and sleep 20 people ? They were doing all of that. Their strength was any one-off thing involving people transport that was not on anyone else catalog. The bankrupcy impacted me personally: my bus (a T812) has been stuck in the garage for nearly two months because it needed steering joints, which led me to cancel my holidays to Finland. Still, to this day, despite the promises of VDL for a quick restart, the spare parts situation is uncertain: i have ordered a couple of non-critical parts that, according to the customer portal, is in stock, but there was still no movement. It's been 3 weeks now, there is probably a large backlog of orders for more important customers that need to be processed first, so i'm not losing hope yet.

[@anareel4562]

Well when u double down on pure EV and not hybrid these are the results

[@MathyBoonen]

Well owners who can´t get along aren´t good for any bussines

[@MathyBoonen]

​@@anareel4562they only went the hybrid lane. And would have brought production to macedonia.

[@MoGreazy]

In 1972 I was 15 and touring Europe with a musical group. We toured the Van Hool plant in Belgium. We, however, were traveling in a DAF bus, which at one poiint had to have its tranny replaced on the street near where we were staying.

[@VaioCorporation]

I start driving for a coach company next week with a few VanHools! Noooooo

[@kgmakogon]

VDL absorbed so many brands and retained and developed them, so nothing bad will happen.

[@10bradyford]

I’m here in Chicago on a charter and I just saw one of your busses pass by on the interstate!

[@sunahamanagai9039]

NOOOOOOO! I cut my teeth driving VanHools. So many fond memories driving them. They had large windows, luxury features and the curb appeal others didn't offer. Not as robust as Prevost or MCI? So what, you're going to replace them anyway every few years. I still remember a tour guide addressing his full group, "This is a 61 seater, largest in captivity." I proudly drove it down the interstate. VH Forever!

[@icewizzard666]

Hey James, hope you are well firstly. Wow, Van Hool has been around so long and I love seeing the coaches here in the UK - Especially the company Shearings -not sure if still going but you can google them, loved seeing their Van Hool Coaches in the distinctive blue livery!

[@Emirates_A380]

Thanks James 🚍

[@yuri_on_youtube]

I'm only speaking from my years of being a passenger: As a kid, my school would charter a bus company that had a Vanhool fleet and definitely loved the ride and look more than the MCI-12s and classic 102 DL3s. But these days, it seems hard to stand out when the competitors make some nice looking, quiet and smooth riding coaches across the board. Again, can't say anything from an owner/operator/driver/maintenance standpoint at all but as a passenger, I have really enjoyed riding today's motorcoaches.

[@crabbymilton390]

Yes James, this is older news but I’m glad you brought this to our attention anyway. This new partnership or pending anyway looks like it could be a good one. Wouldn’t really make any difference what they would call the so called new company. Some of those early models back in the late 1980’s into the mid 1990’s were regarded as crapola. Even though they were smooth and quiet buses. I get the impression the quality has gotten better since then. I was taken aback the first time I rode on one over 30 years ago. It was the first over the road coach I was on that didn’t have the traditional DETROIT 2 cycle family of engines so much less noise. Not that we don’t like that sound but I digress. The advice I offer when it comes to buying a car or truck or a new portable AC like I did recently is take the generic approach. In other words don’t be concerned about who builds it just so long as it works as designed. True we have our favorite things and like to buy the same thing to replace what breaks but that’s not always possible. There’s more freedom that way. I truly hope this new partnership will work.

[@douglasengle2704]

I depend on Motor Coach World to keep me up to date. I formed an application for ABC motor coach for orchestrating the Van Hool double decker electric bus trip across the USA. I hope ABC will come out OK with their major brand Van Hool being in bankruptcy and likely being taken over by another company. Van Hool was always looked as a far number 3 after closely compared Prevost and MCI in North America. The Van Hool provided the only double decker motor coach in the USA which was an inspiring sight on the highway. Where Prevost and MCI were known for reliability and build quality. Van Hools seemed to be known for being glitchy, built to lower standards and a bit cheaper to purchase new. They'd look of surprisingly good quality build from looking over their exterior. Prevost and MCI use stainless steel for major structure components. That insures long term life with that attitude through out the entire bus. With Van Hools that was not a given. Prevost went to IFS in the late 1990s. MCI much later. They both were being developed for the faster speeds traveled by North American motor coaches compared to those in Europe. Van Hool seemed to be one of those European motor coaches.

[@Cancare14]

Thanks James. I’m not a VH lover but I am interested in seeing what happens. Eagle 🦅 went out of business so these things do happen.

[@orenkipnis7058]

Hope that this event will be recorded to be available later, as I will not be able to join live. Knowing some info within VDL, many jobs have been secured in Belgium and North Macedonia. VDL purchased the rights, the tooling and the North Macedonian plant, and is willing to keep the VanHool product line under the VanHool brand and not under the VDL brand. VDL is a very big group with over 100 companies covering a broad industry, VDL is present in the USA in the non automotive industry...but in automotive, it produces the Mini for BMW many years. The partnership with ABC companies has begun to assist ABC companies to further strengthen the VanHool product.

[@berylwhite2983]

VanHool is not favorite but I never liked to see anything like this happen. But now the only way I remembered them is that the peanut butter jelly bus Albert talks about? He's been keeping me entertained while you been gone. Have a great time even your short video was really good.

[@trainguy78]

Thank you for the update. I enjoy you bus content alot! What are your thoughts on the Freightliner and Thomas C2 buses? Have a good one, and the content is amazing!

[@qwertytray]

Hi James! I watch your channel a lot and I was talking to a friend who lives in Belgium and they said that there's a new smaller company that's apparently replacing Vanhool? Most of the workers from Vanhool is going there, they couldn't remember the name though but it's interesting!

[@wendellcrim8647]

The company I worked for bought 4 Van Hools new. I drove one from FL to our base in WA. After a couple of years, it became the build quality was poor. And the coaches began to look shabby. MCI 4500 J is a much better coach.

[@micahgreene4573]

Any Prevost for that matter.

[@crabbymilton390]

Plus that new MERCEDES BENZ TOURRIDER. Of course time will tell. I wonder about TEMSA now that they have been in this market for several years now.

[@mtanyctrainatlantamartatra7164]

​@@crabbymilton390 Don't hardly see tesma buses to much

[@crabbymilton390]

@@mtanyctrainatlantamartatra7164 An operator here in Wisconsin has a few. Now how they are holding up in not known to me.

[@prevost8686]

@@mtanyctrainatlantamartatra7164Their 30 & 35 ft. models have sold well for smaller groups going into congested urban areas but the 45ft model is almost nonexistent here in the Southeast.

[@rogerr.7228]

This is a shocker! I heard nothing about this! Dang!

[@michaelhorgan9525]

Same here, had no idea that Van Hool filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by VDL.

[@MathyBoonen]

​@@michaelhorgan9525they filed bankrupcy. And even than the owners or shareholders couldn´t get along. A lot happened deu to mismanagment

[@Stupidboi1]

Vanhool was never a bus I cared for. Had bad experience with them. Happens. MCI Forever!

[@michaelrocker9000]

What a bummer. I liked VanHool from the first time i ever drove one. I hope VDL won't skimp on the quality. Based on your run with the 100% electric but, I don't think the industry is ready for long distance runs the same as trucks..

[@MrJ-dc3yz]

I remember that EV bus trip he took and how the drama. It clearly shows EVs are a expensive pipe dream.

[@crabbymilton390]

Well it was a valuable learning experience per the purpose of the excursion. His family and friends got to share in that.

[@dvaritek434]

Yes. Evs are too heavy. The "fuel" is 45x less energy dense than gasoline, the gap is bigger for diesel. Charging infrastructure is beyond terrible for large vehicles. Why does an electric toy bus work so well (as a toy) compared to a full size variant? Bc the energy density of its fuel source is scaled to its mass. If an ebus wanted the same amount of energy available (range) as a diesel bus, the battery would be so heavy it would eat alot of its available payload.

[@crabbymilton390]

@@dvaritek434 They would be fine in regional line haul where they could be charged and the end of a trip. Or the same concept in a hotel/airport/parking lot shuttle bus where the thing may seldom venture beyond eye sight of the airport. School buses too where they would likely have a big old diesel generator at the terminal. Hence, no dependence on the grid.

[@mtanyctrainatlantamartatra7164]

NYC transit supposed to be getting electric van hool buses

[@MathyBoonen]

The biggest reason is lack of development on full ev´s. They only did it for hybrids. They would have build a production line in macedonia wich made the belgium gouverment order busses in china. And the last couple off years there was a serious mismanagment. The kids couldn´t get along about daddy´s legacy

[@MetroHaus]

No bus is as good as the Exquicity... now it's gone. RIP the best bus in the world Idk about their coaches, but godamn no bus will ever be as futuristic, sleek and as cool as that one

[@BassNotes_B-Rad]

VanHool was the first ever coach I've driven. This is a sad time for me 😢

[@stevenmoran4060]

Not going bankrupt gone!

[@sunahamanagai9039]

Question. A little off topic but.. now that Mercedes is selling their buses here in the US, did Setra get canceled? That would be sad too.

[@transitfan2000]

Rest in Peace Van Hool

[@jpisinthehousenow8445]

I wonder how this is going to affect one of Van-Hools customers which is Premier Coach TN since their fleet is mostly Van-Hools

[@mistero4]

In Macedonia, Cheese Burek, James. It’s amazing.

[@bryancooper2699]

Electric motor coaches is not feasible and the one VanHool built has a million dollar price tag. Time to come back to reality

[@kgmakogon]

Somebody had to build a technology demonstrator, it was VanHool.

[@sunahamanagai9039]

I don't think it was really VanHool that built those buses. From my fallible memory, it was ABC that converted VanHool buses to EVs and put them on the market in the US.

[@schizy]

@@kgmakogon And sadly, it demonstrated severe problems in trying to pursue an extended road trip. VanHool sort of shot themselves in the foot with that beautiful but impractical bus.

[@kgmakogon]

@@schizy I used to work as a dispatcher for a major european bus company and we had one or two experimental intercity routes with electric buses. The experience was mixed. The ride used to be excellent and there were dedicated bus charging stations at one end of every route. This proved to be feasible.

[@crabbymilton390]

@@sunahamanagai9039True perhaps but it still has the VAN-HOOL badge. More or less a stamp of approval.

[@ewk33]

Hi from England

[@anthonybyrne7121]

When you gave numbers to get into that meeting you didn't give details for Australia.

[@MotorcoachWorld]

I'm sorry those are the numbers that Van hool and ABC gave me. I'm not sure why they were no options for Australia.

[@anthonybyrne7121]

@@MotorcoachWorld That's ok. Your channel is awesome. I'm a bus enthusiast and also a bus driver in Queensland Australia.

[@MyLife627Fl]

What are Chinese casino Bus companies going to do?

[@yodatwolf8484]

OMG!!!!!

[@Tina-ds3pp]

I'm sad to see it, but that said that gives Prevost some breathing room for a little more quality in the tour industry!

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

CAIO BUS= Marco- Polo 🇧🇷

[@bryancooper2699]

That was shocking news

[@SamDavis-n4r]

Temsa Ts30 vs Full sized Motorcoach Which would you recommend for overnight trip 3 plus days??

[@jolibethrodriguez7471]

Sold to VDL and saves, until they merge it with mainline VDL products like they did with Boba

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

Volvo Cars = Geely 🇨🇳 Lotus = Geely Black Cab UK 🇬🇧 = VoLVo, Geely Conglomerate

[@kevinanderson5658]

Van hool is staying for good just another brand in VDL

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

Budweiser = Stella Artois 🇧🇪

[@MartinIbert]

Please always, always quote times in UTC. Local timezones are meaningless.

[@MotorcoachWorld]

I disagree.

[@mtk52983]

Maybe they should not have gotten into electric vehicles

[@crabbymilton390]

I bet one of the builders will offer a hybrid.

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

What's next ??? AirBus Acquired Boeing..

[@metallitech]

Seemed easy to predict after watching your 2900 mile electric bus trip.

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

New Flyers Bus = MCI 🇺🇸

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

PREVOST = VOLVO

[@hufjournallife7218]

Is it sell to vdl?

[@lovedfriend2020]

James had to push this video out he didn't even get dressed in his fancy CEO clothes!

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

BUGATTI = RIMAC 🇫🇷 🇭🇷

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

Jeep = FIAT 🇮🇹

[@BigT-lz3it]

yep u all ready for a new logo lol

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

Freightliner = Mc Merc.

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

NOVA BUS = VOLVO Trucks Division 🇸🇪

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

Dodge = FIAT 🇮🇹

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

Land Rover- Jaguar = TATA 🇮🇳

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

VANHOOL = VDL

[@jasonperry8695]

MCI all the way

[@MisterCoachDriver]

✌🏾

[@ingodwetrustdellaware-inc8322]

MACK= VOLVO

[@AnotherBrian]

Rode them on AC Transit. Not a fan of their transit buses. Their motorcoaches are better, but I prefer MCIs.