Private company

VDL Bova

Dutch coachbuilder, est. 1931

VDL Bova was a luxury coachbuilder based in Eindhoven, in The Netherlands which began building coaches in 1931. In particular, it is well known for the Bova Futura, a streamlined coach usually powered by a DAF engine, which was first introduced in the 1980s and is still in production as of 2018 as the VDL Futura. In 1878 Jacob D. Bots founded a timber business in Valkenswaard.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1878Founded¹

Industryautomotive industry¹
HeadquartersValkenswaard¹

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Products and brands

Integral Buses and Coaches

Benelux (coach/interurban, replaced by Europa)

Europa (coach, replaced by Futura)

Futura (coach/interurban, replaced by VDL Futura 2)

Magiq (coach, derivative of Futura, replaced by VDL Futura 2)

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X-press (low-floor bus with rear engine, only 16 built in 1980)

Bus and Coach Chassis

Calypso (coach, with Europa underframe and Duple bodywork)

Bus and Coach Bodywork

Initially Bova built bus bodywork on a variety of chassis, but switched to building integral vehicles in the early 1970s. After becoming part of VDL Groep some chassis/bodywork combinations of DAF/Berkhof heritage were sold as complete vehicles under the VDL Bova name:

Lexio (interurban bus based on VDL SD400 chassis, replaced by VDL Citea)

Synergy (double-deck coach based on VDL SBR4000 chassis, rebadged from Berkhof Axial 100. Replaced by VDL Futura FDD2)

From Wikipedia’s article on VDL Bova, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.³

Timeline

1878Founded Founded¹

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataVDL Bova on Wikidata
2
WikipediaVDL Bova on Wikipedia
3
WikipediaVDL Bova on Wikipedia (revision used)
4
Wikimedia CommonsVDL Bova photo by Felix O, CC BY-SA 2.0