VDL Nedcar alludes to building own battery factory

VDL Nedcar might build its own battery factory, general manager Paul van Vuuren intimates in the Volkskrant (link in Dutch). Van Vuuren talked to the daily after it had been announced that BMW will end production of the Mini Countryman at the Dutch car ‘foundry’, threatening its survival. However, the VDL manager is cautiously optimistic about finding new customers, in part because of the rise of the electric car, the production of which is more easily outsourced to third parties. If Nedcar manages to snag an electric carmaker as a customer, it may make sense to build not only the car but also to produce the batteries.