On 10 April, members of the press descended on the Flemish city of Roeselare to visit a new bus factory operated by Dutch company VDL Bus & Coach. Ostensibly, they were there to report on the factory itself and the ribbon cutting ceremony which marked its official opening, but I suspect that the local media were hunting for information on an entirely different topic. Indeed, the CV trade journalists hardly spoke of anything else: the bankruptcy of commercial vehicle manufacturer Van Hool and the prospect of a rescue by VDL.

Pinnacle Mobility, which sells vehicles under the brand name, EKA Mobility, is an electric bus as well as a light and medium-duty electric truck builder.

In the Dutch city of Eindhoven, there remains one of those odd survivals of the former industrial age, now largely superseded by the digital revolution: the privately owned diversified manufacturing company, VDL Groep. Founded by Pieter van der Leegte in 1953, it now comprises more than 100 companies operating in 19 countries, overseen by Willem van der Leegte, who represents the third generation of the VDL family.

At the first UITP summit in four years, we report on developments related to two topics: electric vehicles and artificial intelligence.

The order is for two low-entry models from the Citea range of battery-electric city buses - 60 units of the LE-122 and 133 units of the LE-135 - which will serve in Zaanstreek-Waterland.

Report written following the latest FIAA exhibition, a bus and coach show held between 18-21 October in Madrid.

The initiative will use 7.5-megawatt bus batteries taken from forty-three electric VDL buses in operation in Eindhoven since 2016 and repurpose them for stationary applications.

VDL displayed its new generation Citea electric bus at Innotrans – claiming it is lighter, offers a longer range and comes with increased passenger capacity, series production starts in Eindhoven at the year end.

The Bus Ontime took delivery of 10 Futuras, reflecting early signs of a recovery in the European coach market, according to VDL.

The Dutch manufacturer has announced that its Citea range has collectively travelled over 200 million kilometres since the first iteration was introduced in 2013.

Two Dutch bus builders, Ebusco Holding N.V., based in Deurne, and VDL Bus & Coach B.V., headquartered in Valkenswaard, have been awarded the Red Dot Award for their 3.0 and Citea models. VDL has previously won the award for its Citea bus in 2017.

Two 37-tonne CF Electric tractors from DAF Trucks N.V. have become the first battery-electric heavy articulating trucks to be operating in the UK