VDL Nedcar to produce BMW X1
VDL Nedcar will produce the BMW X1 in Born as of August 2017. This is the first time that VDL Nedcar is going to build a BMW. The car factory of the industrial family company VDL Groep, headquartered in Eindhoven (The Netherlands), already produces three MINI models for BMW: the MINI 3-door (since 2014), the MINI Convertible (since 2015) and the MINI Countryman (since 2016). From 1 March 2017 the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) and sporty MINI John Cooper Works versions of the Countryman will also be built in Born.
Due to global demand for the BMW X1, extra production capacity is needed to supplement production at the BMW plant in Regensburg, Germany. The agreement between VDL Nedcar and BMW enables a transfer of the production to Born. This latest model will lead to around 800 new jobs at VDL Nedcar. These additional jobs will boost the total number of employees at VDL Nedcar to over 5,000.
President and CEO Willem van der Leegte of VDL Groep: “We are pleased that in addition to the MINI models we are now also going to produce a BMW model at VDL Nedcar. The expansion of production capacity represents the trust our customer BMW has in the cooperation with VDL Nedcar and the craftsmanship and flexibility of our employees in Born.”
Logistics
In order to produce the BMW X1 in Born, the VDL Nedcar factory has been expanded. Assembly cells where auto parts are assembled have been added to existing production lines. Robots have also been reprogrammed. In addition, logistics at the plant have become more complex because the components for the BMW X1 will also be stored and pre-sorted in Born.
VDL Nedcar
VDL Nedcar of Born is an independent car manufacturer that produces vehicles for third parties. It is the only large car manufacturing plant in the Netherlands. At present the company has around 4,500 employees, as compared with the 1,500 it had when VDL Groep took over the company at the end of 2012. The factory has capacity for the production of up to 200,000 cars per year, when operating in two shifts. VDL Nedcar, with over 330,000 m² of factory space, utilizes a highly automated production process (1,200 industrial robots). Since it opened in 1967 more than 4.9 million cars (DAF, Volvo, Smart, Mitsubishi, MINI) have been built in Born.