History of VD Leegte Metaal and VDL Groep

From the eraly 1960s, Pieter van der Leegte started developing his own household products such as washing machines and oil stoves. In 1962, following a large order for Honda chain boxes, it was decided to move to Hapert. However, the order turned out not to be as big as initially thought. New finished products were then launched: tainless steel household items, such as bed jars, egg cups, butter dished, etc.

With the rise of production form the Far East, production of stainless steel household items in the Netherlands became increasingly difficult. Therefore, from 1976 the company started to concentrate on subcontracting again.

In 1966, Wim van der Leegte joined his father’s company as a 19-year-old HTS student. Wim started his practical year, practising his technical skills at the lathe and deep drawing presses. Meanwhile, he kept his eyes peeled and after six weeks he  had a pretty good grasp of things within the company. Due to various factors, his father Pieter van der Leegte senior became overworked in the summer. This left Wim in charge of the company within three months. Eventually, Wim took over all his father’s shares in 1972.

_{Wim van der Leegte as 19-year-old HTS-student}

In 1977, Wim van der leegte introduce dan open consultation structure. The reason fort his is to involve his employees in all facets of the business. By listening carefully and communicating with the employees of different departments, they gained insight of developments of things. This organisational change made the company turn positive again.

With the introduction of the open consultation structure, the company was doing so well that Wim van der Leegte sought a new challenge: taking over badly run companies.

In 1979, the first takeover of TIM Hapert, his brother Piet’s company, marked the first step towards dynamic growth. The name of the company founded in 1953 by Pieter van der Leegte senior, was changed to VD Leegte Metaal.

Originally, Wim van der Leegte was the sole managing director of VDL Groep. The sudden death of his brother Piet, had convinced him of the vulnerability of a company with a one-man management. In the year 1984 work began to form an executive team of four directors with Wim van der Leegte as chairman. The other directors who formed the base of the team were Lau Pas, Wim Maathuis and Rini Vermeulen.

Besides forming the management board, a Supervisory Board was also appointed with Pieter van der Leegte senior as a chairman. Sadly, the founder of VDL Groep died on 22 January 1991.

In 1993, VDL Groep makes its entry into the bus and coach world with the acquisition of DAF Bus International. The group continued to grow and two major acquisitions in the bus and coach sector followed. In 1998, the Berkhof Jonckheere Groep was taken over and in 2003 BOVA.

With the acquisition of Steelweld in 1995, a major step was taken in production automation systems. VDL Steelweld now has branches in six countries worldwide.

In 2006, Philips Enabling Technologies Groep was acquired, the largest acquisition at the time in the history of VDL Groep. The circle is comple again; Pieter van de Leegte senior started as a toolmaker at the former Philips Machine factories.

With the acquisition of NedCar at the end of 2012, VDL became the only major car manufacturer in the Netherlands. As an independent car manufacturer, VDL NedCar assembles passenger cars on behalf of third parties.

In January 2016, Wim van der Leegte’s children, Pieter, Jennifer and Willem, joined the main board of VDL Groep as the third generation.

On 1 November 2016, Wim van der Leegte celebrated his 50th anniversary, which was a great moment to hand over the gavel to his youngest son Willem van der Leegte. Wim remained, until his death, with VDL Groep as a supervisory director.