After almost 60 years, no more cars are being built in the Netherlands, with the end of production at the VDL Nedcar plant in Born in Limburg.

The last car – a Mini Cooper Cabrio- rolled off the production line on Monday, as BMW’s contract with the Dutch firm ended after 10 years. 

At its height, some 9,000 people worked at the plant, which produced more than 200,000 cars a year. BMW said in 2020 that it would stop building cars in Limburg this year and multiple efforts to find a replacement failed. 

The factory was set up by DAF in 1967 and went on to work for Volvo and Mitsubishi, which owned the plant from 2001. In 2012 the Japanese company sold it to Eindhoven family firm VDL for the symbolic amount of €1.

Nedcar has said it will keep on some 450 workers to ensure it has the skills to work on new contracts and plans to develop into a “partner in sustainable mobility”. VDL Special Vehicles is now moving from Eindhoven to Born, as is VDL Bus. 

So far the company has a contract to build batteries for BMW. It is also looking into an option to build electric vans for German firm Schaeffler, with production slated to start in 2030.