Volvo and Other Foreign Carmakers in Belgium

Jacobs, A. J.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17431-6_8

A. J. Jacobs²

468 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter, examines the experiences of Volvo and four former other foreign-owned/licensed car plants in Belgium. It begins with a terse review of Chrysler in Antwerp, before turning to two short-lived operations that eventually came under the control of British Leyland: Standard/Leyland-Triumph Malines in Mechelen; and Austin Morris in Seneffe. This is followed by a section on the Mechelen facility of Importer of Moteurs et d’Automobiles, which produced small lots of Saab and Mercedes-Benz between 1959 and 1978, and Brondeel of Antwerp, which built Saab between 1967 and 1971. The last half of the chapter and the conclusion then focus on Volvo Car Gent, which is currently owned by Geely of China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Chapter: USD 29.95; Price excludes VAT (USA)

eBook: USD 59.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Softcover Book: USD 79.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Hardcover Book: USD 109.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

1.
Ensing (1999); Allpar (2017); Belgium (2017–2018).
2.
Ibid.
3.
BL Chronicles (2017).
4.
Jacobs (2016).
5.
Jacobs (2016); BL Chronicles (2017).
6.
Belgique Automobile (2012); Adams (2016); Belgium (2017–2018).
7.
Ibid.
8.
New York Times (1964); Thompson (2008); Adams (2016). AZLK stood for Avtomobilny Zavod imeni Leninskogo Komsomola and GAZ for Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod.
9.
Adams (2016); Belgium (2017–2018).
10.
Ryckewaert (2011); Adams (2016); Belgium (2017–2018).
11.
Georgano (2000); Cowin (2014); Jacobs (2016).
12.
Bloomfield (1978); Mullen (2015), Adams (2016); Jacobs (2016).
13.
Ibid.
14.
Ibid.
15.
WSJ (1975a, b, 1976); Georgano (2000); Cowin (2014); Jacobs (2016).
16.
Autocar (1976, 1977); WSJ (1977); Adams (2016).
17.
WSJ (1979); Adams (2016).
18.
WSJ (1981); Reuters (1981a); Mullen (2015); Adams (2016); Belgium (2017–2018).
19.
Belgium (2017–2018); Saab Museum (2017).
20.
Bloomfield (1978); Belgium (2017–2018).
21.
Mechelen Mapt (2017); Saab Museum (2017).
22.
WSJ (1964); Berggren (1993); Jacobs (2016); Belgium (2017–2018).
23.
Belgium (2017–2018).
24.
Volvo Car (2008–2017); Belgium (2017–2018); Jacobs (2016); Volvo Belgium (2017). The 140 series included: the four-cylinder engine, two-door, P142 and the four-cylinder, four-door P144 sedans, both introduced in 1967; and the five-door P145 wagon launched in 1968.
25.
Ibid.
26.
Reuters (1981b); Jacobs (2016).
27.
Berggren (1993); Volvo Belgium (2017).
28.
Levin (1989); Berggren (1993, 1998).
29.
Berggren (1993, 1998); Ketelhohn and Kubes (1995); Holweg and Pil (2009).
30.
Greenhouse (1990); Cohen (1992); Berggren (1998); Volvo Belgium (2017).
31.
Riding (1993); Stevenson (1993); Ketelhohn and Kubes (1995); Berggren (1998); Volvo Belgium (2017).
32.
Berggren (1998); Volvo Belgium (2017).
33.
Burt (1999); Jacobs (2016).
34.
Volvo Belgium (2017).
35.
Holweg and Pil (2009); Jacobs (2016).
36.
Ibid.
37.
Ward’s (1956–2018); Holweg and Pil (2009); Jacobs (2016); Volvo Belgium (2017).
38.
Ford (2000–2018); Jacobs (2016); Volvo Belgium (2017).
39.
Ward’s (1956–2018); Ford (2000–2018); Economist (2010); Jacobs (2016); Ford later estimated the sale price for Volvo as $1.5 billion, including $1.3 billion in cash and a $200 million loan.
40.
Volvo Belgium (2017).
41.
Hope (2014); Belgium (2017–2018); Volvo Belgium (2017).
42.
Dillen (2015); Hope (2015); Reuters (2015).
43.
Wren (2015); Belgium (2017–2018).
44.
Dillen (2016); Hope (2016); Volvo Belgium (2017).
45.
Volvo Belgium (2018); Volvo Car (2018). Average employment for the year was even higher, at 5918.
46.
Belgium (2017–2018).

References

Adams K (2016) In Production: Seneffe. April 1, http://www.aronline.co.uk/around-the-world/in-production-seneffe/, last 22 September 2017.
Allpar.com (2017) Chrysler/Kaiser-Frazer Rotterdam Assembly Plant: 1958–1970, https://www.allpar.com/corporate/factories/rotterdam.html, last 18 September 2017.
Autocar (1976) Allegro for Belgium? 4 December 25.
Google Scholar
Autocar (1977) Belgians Build ½-Millionth Leyland, 11 June, 19.
Google Scholar
Belgique Automobile (2012) La Belgique Automobile, http://belgiqueautomobile.blogspot.be/, last 22 September 2017.
Belgium (2017–2018) Author Site Visits, Factory Tours, and Correspondents with Government Officials, Firm Representatives, and Academics in Belgium, 15 March 2017 to 3 September 2018.
Google Scholar
Berggren C (1993) The Volvo Experience: Alternatives to Lean Production in the Swedish Auto Industry (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
Google Scholar
Berggren C (1998) A Second Comeback or a Final Farewell? The Volvo Trajectory, 1973–1994, in M Freyssenet, A Mair, K Shimizu, and G Volpato (eds), One Best Way? Trajectories and Industrial Models of the World’s Automobile Producers (New York: Oxford), pp. 418–440.
Google Scholar
BL Chronicles (2017) British Leyland Chronicles, https://www.facebook.com/Leyland.Chronicles, last 18 September 2017.
Bloomfield G (1978) The World Automotive Industry (North Pomfret, VT. David & Charles, Inc.).
Google Scholar
Burt T (1999) Ford Unveils Volvo Reshuffle. The Financial Times. 1 April, 36.
Google Scholar
Cohen R (1992) Company News: Renault and Volvo Discuss Possible Merger. New York Times, 8 May, D4.
Google Scholar
Cowin C (2014) British Leyland Chronicle of a Car Crash 1968–1978 (N. Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing).
Google Scholar
Dillen J (2015) Volvo Will Debut Compact SUV in 2018. Automotive News Europe, 13 October, http://europe.autonews.com/article/20151013/ANE/151009867/volvo-will-debut-compact-suv-in-2018-sources-say, last 20 November 2017.
Dillen J (2016) Volvo will Shift V60 production to Belgium. Automotive News Europe, 29 January, http://europe.autonews.com/article/20160129/ANE/160129860/volvo-will-shift-v60-production-to-belgium, last 20 November 2017.
Economist (2010) Geely Buys Volvo. 31 March, http://www.economist.com/node/15825810?story_id=15825810, last 20 November 2017.
Ensing H (1999) De NEKAF-Chrysler Story: 22 Jaar Automobiel Assemblage in Rotterdam 1949–1971 (Heerle, Netherlands: ENMARCO).
Google Scholar
Ford (2000–2018) Ford Motor Company Annual Reports, and Annual SEC 10K Filings, 1999–2017. Dearborn: Ford Motor Company.
Google Scholar
Georgano N, ed (2000) The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile, Vol. 1 and 2 (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn).
Google Scholar
Greenhouse S (1990) Renault and Volvo Decide to Join Forces. New York Times, 24 February, 33, 35.
Google Scholar
Hope A (2014) Volvo Ghent can “Rest Easy”, Say Managers. Flanders Today, 13 November, http://www.flanderstoday.eu/business/volvo-ghent-can-rest-easy-say-managers, last 20 November 2017.
Hope A (2015) Volvo Gent Celebrates Anniversary with €200 Million Investment. Flanders Today, 18 September, http://www.flanderstoday.eu/business/volvo-gent-celebrates-anniversary-eu200-million-investment, last 20 November 2017.
Holweg M and F Pil (2009) Failed merger 1993 in a Break from the Past: Volvo and its Malcontents, in M Freyssenet, A (ed), The Second Automobile Revolution: Trajectories of the World Carmakers in the 21st Century (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 353–365.
Chapter Google Scholar
Hope A (2016) Last remaining supplier of Volvo Car Gent loses contract. Flanders Today, 23 March, http://www.flanderstoday.eu/business/last-remaining-supplier-volvo-car-gent-loses-contract, last 20 November 2017.
Jacobs A J (2016) The ‘New Domestic’ Automakers in the U.S. and Canada: History, Impacts, and Prospects (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books).
Google Scholar
Ketelhohn W and J Kubes (1995) Cases in International Business Strategy (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann).
Google Scholar
Levin D (1989) Logic Behind Volvo-Renault Talks. New York Times, 14 October, 35.
Google Scholar
Mechelen Mapt (2017) Mercedes Mechelen. http://mechelen.mapt.be/wiki/Mercedes_Mechelen, last 21 June 2017.
Mullen E (2015) When British Leyland Drove the Car Industry into Europe. Birmingham Post & Mail, 29 January, http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/manufacturing/british-leyland-drove-car-industry-8541139, last 22 September 2017.
New York Times (1964) Italy Seeks to Bar Soviet Car Influx. 29 January, 46.
Google Scholar
Reuters (1981a) Belgium Says BL will Close Plant. New York Times, 28 January D4.
Google Scholar
Reuters (1981b) Renault’s Volvo Stake. New York Times, 18 September, 37.
Google Scholar
Reuters (2015) Volvo will build new compacts in Belgium, CEO says. Automotive News, 24 April, http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20150424/COPY01/304249940&template=printart, last 20 November 2017.
Riding A (1993) Renault-Volvo Marriage On. New York Times, 7 September, D1.
Google Scholar
Ryckewaert M (2011) Building the Economic Backbone of the Belgian Welfare State: Infrastructure, Planning and Architecture 1945–1973 (Rotterdam: 0I0 Publishers).
Google Scholar
Saab Museum (2017) Data for Saab Production in Belgium. Email Correspondent with Author, 5 July.
Google Scholar
Stevenson R (1993) Volvo Abandons Renault Merger. New York Times, 3 December, D1.
Google Scholar
Thompson A (2008). Cars of the Soviet Union (Newbury Park, CA: Haynes North America).
Google Scholar
Volvo Belgium (2017) Volvo Gent Annual Car Production and Employment. Unpublished data obtained from Corporate Communications, 5 May.
Google Scholar
Volvo Belgium (2018) Volvo Car Gent – Fact Sheet 2018, June, http://www.volvocargent.be/upload/attach-image/fact-sheet-volvo-car-gent-2018.pdf, last 24 June 2018.
Volvo Car (2008–2017) Volvo Car Gent– Fact Sheets 2007–2016, http://volvocars.be, last 20 September 2017.
Volvo Car (2018) Volvo Car Group Annual Report 2017. Gothenburg: Volvo Car Group.
Google Scholar
Ward’s (1956–2018) Ward’s Automotive Yearbook, 1956 to 2018 (Detroit: Ward’s Communications).
Google Scholar
Wren D (2015) $204 million incentive package helps drive Volvo to Berkeley County. 11 May, Charleston Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150511/PC05/150519887, last 20 November 2017.
WSJ (1964) Volvo Expects to Raise Output Sharply in 1964. Wall Street Journal, 30 June, 11.
Google Scholar
WSJ (1975a) British Leyland Sells 2 Plants. Wall Street Journal, 23 July, 34.
Google Scholar
WSJ (1975b) Leyland’s New Shares Fall in Initial Trading on London Exchange. Wall Street Journal, 12 August, 10.
Google Scholar
WSJ (1976) Italy Workers End Sit-In. Wall Street Journal, 7 April, 14.
Google Scholar
WSJ (1977) British Leyland Plans $22 Million Expansion of its Belgian Factory. Wall Street Journal, 27 January, 30.
Google Scholar
WSJ (1979) BL will cut Jobs and Close Plants in the Next 2 Years. Wall Street Journal, 11 September, 9.
Google Scholar
WSJ (1981) Belgian Government May Be Threatened by Opposition to its Austerity Measures. Wall Street Journal, 29 January, 28.
Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Sociology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
A. J. Jacobs

Authors

A. J. Jacobs
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Jacobs, A.J. (2019). Volvo and Other Foreign Carmakers in Belgium. In: The Automotive Industry and European Integration. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17431-6_8

Download citation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17431-6_8
Published: 08 August 2019
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-17430-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-17431-6
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics