One of the oldest European bus companies, the Dutch bus manufacturer Bova is now part of the holding VDL (VDL Group). For most of its history, the company was engaged in the production of bus bodies, which were then installed on the chassis of other manufacturers: at different times these were DAF, Scania, Mercedes-Benz and others.
It all started back in 1878, when a certain Jacobs Bots founded a small woodworking company. Name Bova appeared later, in 1910. It arose from a combination of the first two letters from the name of the creator (Bots) and the town of Valkenswaard (Valkenswaard), where the company was located. The authorship of the name belongs to the son of Jacobs - Simon (Simon Bots).
bus body production Bova engaged in 1931. In those days, wood was still used for their manufacture, so there was no particular difficulty in changing the type of activity.
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| Bova Futura (photo courtesy of British Model Buses) |
As time went on, technology improved. The metal finally pushed the tree. By 1970 Bova is the leading bus manufacturer in the Benelux. And by 1977, it was possible to enter the markets of other European countries.
1982 was marked by the appearance of the series Futura. Bus models with futuristic streamlined shapes turned out to be very successful and popular. This successful series exists to this day, being the main product of the company. In 2005, the 8000th anniversary bus was produced Futura. Achieving this to other manufacturers may seem ridiculous. For example, Chinese Zhongtong Bus, which once even acquired technology from Bova, churns out about 9,000 buses a year.
In 1990 Bova, наряду с другими производителями автобусов — Den Oudsten, Optare, DAB и DAF Bus, joined the association United Bus. However, the "bus union" did not last long - in 1993 it was declared bankrupt. Former partners again had to survive on their own. As a result, since 2003 Bova has been part of VDL Group.
