March 13, 2024
On Tuesday, Belgium’s most significant car importer, D’Ieteren Automotive, kicked off its own B2B ‘motor show’ in the industrial settings of Silo Brussels, a former brewery and malthouse located along the canal at Neder-Over-Heembeek. Called ‘Mobility Solutions’ by D’Ieteren, it demonstrates it’s no longer about selling cars only but rather focusing on a far broader […]
March 06, 2024
Brussels-based holding company D’Ieteren, best known for car glass repairer Carglass and as an importer of VW vehicles, posted sharply higher profits in 2023. Last year, that adjusted consolidated profit before tax came to 970.8 million euros or a 28.1% increase compared to 2022. Things look rosy for D’Ieteren for this year, too: It expects […]
February 14, 2024
The emblematic modernist headquarters of car importer D’Ieteren in Rue du Mail in Ixelles has been included on the Brussels list of monuments. This was announced by the office of the regional Secretary of State for Spatial Planning and Heritage, Ans Persoons (Vooruit). The procedure to protect various parts of the building was launched in […]
January 16, 2024
Maserati gains a new showroom in Belgium with Maserati Center Antwerp, a new concept store built in collaboration with D’Ieteren. The Belgian VW importer is expanding its business into the luxury segment, including creating dealerships of brands outside the Volkswagen Group portfolio. D’Ieteren may be best known as the Belgian importer of VW Group brands […]
November 23, 2023
D’Ieteren‘s bicycle division Lucien announces strengthening its position in the Belgian bicycle market by acquiring two renowned bicycle shops – Bike Planet Sport and Bike Planet City – in Malines (Mechelen). In Louvain, there will be a new store at the Diestsestraat 88. The two stores in Mechelen have built a strong reputation for offering […]
November 22, 2023
Van Mossel Group, already the biggest car retailer in the Belux, expands its brand portfolio for the first time with VW Group brands by overtaking Garage Mertens, a renowned car dealer in Eastern Flanders with dealerships in Sint-Niklaas, Lokeren, and Dendermonde. Van Mossel is already selling 25 car brands in Belgium. Exceptions were the Toyota/Lexus […]
September 08, 2023
Brussels-based holding company D’Ieteren Group, best known for importing and distributing cars of the Volkswagen Group and Carglass, posted a gross profit of 548,9 million euros during the first six months of this year. That is almost half as much profit as during the same period last year. The central part of the profit comes […]
June 16, 2023
Plum, Ghent’s best-known bike shop, has a new owner. The shop on Verlorenkost has been taken over by Lucien, D’Ieteren’s bicycle chain. Lucien also takes over the Remory-Van Heddeghem shop in Wetteren from the Remora family. This reports the business newspaper De Tijd. With the two acquisitions, Lucien now has 16 branches in Belgium, but […]
April 04, 2023
D’Ieteren’s Taxis Verts and Colruyt’s Virya Energy started a pilot project in September 2022 with a Toyota Mirai as a hydrogen taxi to see if this type of drivetrain is a suitable option as the taxi sector in Brussels is forced to electrify by 2025. With half of the year-long test program completed, both companies […]
March 28, 2023
Brussels-based car importer and distributor D’Ieteren Automotive is setting up a distribution and service network to launch the Swiss-Italian Microlino electric car by summer in France. Besides Belgium and France, D’Ieteren is also the distributor of the microcar in Luxembourg. In France, the Microlino belongs to the L7 vehicle class and is available to holders […]
February 06, 2023
Lucien, the bicycle shop chain under the wings of Belgian’s most significant car importer D’Ieteren, is expanding from ten to fourteen shops in Brussels and Antwerp with the recent acquisition of Alpha Bikes (Lasne, Uccle, Woluwe Saint Lambert, and Cyclo Europe (Evere). The rapid scale-up and concentration of car dealerships in Belgium are also seen […]
January 12, 2023
Where VW Group importer D’Ieteren had decided not to be present at the 2022 BMS (which was finally canceled), it’s again present with an entire exposition hall (11) at the BMS 2023. But the importer will not only show the novelties of its VW Group brands. Apart from that, all ‘new mobility’ proposals will also […]
December 20, 2022
Via its daughter Sopadis, D’ieteren Auto wants to take over the dealerships owned by the Jennes family in the eastern part of the Vlaams Brabant province. In a press release, D’Ieteren states that the negotiations for the take-over are in an advanced stage. Just yesterday, the Belgian competition authority approved the take-over without remarks. The […]
November 14, 2022
MyWay, the second-hand car sales chain of Belgian Volkswagen brand importer D’Ieteren Automotive, extends its offer beyond the ‘house brands’ Audi, Seat, Škoda, and Volkswagen and goes fully ‘multi-brand’. Some 3 000 ‘certified’ cars are available in 200 dealerships and on the MyWay website. This year the group also launched ‘My Way Buy’, a service […]
October 20, 2022
The D’Ieteren Group, best known as a car importer and of Carglass, continues to expand its national network of bicycle shops that it started under the Lucien brand name in May of this year. With the acquisition of Waterloo-based ReCycle, D’Ieteren is now also focusing on the fast-growing used-bike market. The acquisition of ReCycle is […]
October 06, 2022
D’Ieteren is bringing the heavy cannons to bear to broach the French market with its daughter Lizy, a specialist in leasing second-hand cars in Belgium today. It raised another €8,5 million from an investment group led by Belgian entrepreneur and millionaire Marc Coucke’s Alychlo and got bank funding of another 32 million. The Belgian used-car […]
September 29, 2022
Belgian car importer D’Ieteren Automotive is going to import the Microlino in Belgium. The importer sees the microcar as the perfect product to close the gap between two- and four-wheelers in urban mobility. It will be for sale in 2023 and have its Belgian premiere at the Brussels Motor Show in January at €14 900. […]
September 16, 2022
On this Friday, 16 September, Brussels sees the first taxi on hydrogen hitting the streets. It’s a member of the fleet of 500 taxis of Taxis Verts, owned since March by D’Ieteren Automotive. By the lack of a hydrogen car in its portfolio of Volkswagen brands, the D’Ieteren daughter had to fall back on Toyota […]
September 08, 2022
After being successful for some years already in Antwerp, Brussels, Mechelen, and at the airports of Zaventem, Charleroi, and Antwerp, Poppy Mobility is expanding its shared mobility services again. The D’Ieteren daughter now descends on Ghent’s territory. Poppy will start with the introduction of 80 free-floating vehicles, but other services will follow. Four and a […]
August 04, 2022
The European Commission has given the green light for Belgian D’Ieteren Group to take over French Parts Holding Europe (PHE) on the condition it sells the car glass division of the parts distributor. D’Ieteren had proposed to put up for sale PHE’s Mondial Pare-Brise and Glass Auto Service in France to avoid a monopoly as […]
July 27, 2022
The Brussels government is to launch the procedure to protect the D’Ieteren Group’s building in the Rue du Mail/Maliestraat in Ixelles. D’Ieteren recently announced plans to renovate its headquarters and prepare them for the future. The Ixelles site covers 67 000 m² and has been owned by the D’Ieteren family since 1906. It has been […]
June 22, 2022
D’Ieteren Automotive sees mobility from a broader perspective. In addition to the classic car distribution activities of the VW Group brands, it invests in sustainable mobility solutions such as sharing platforms (Poppy), bicycles (Lucien), charging infrastructure (EDI), and now energy supply with the acquisition of Go-Solar, a specialist in solar panels and home batteries. With […]
May 09, 2022
A few weeks ago, D’Ieteren CEO Francis Deprez presented its plans for the Group at its investor’s day in the Ixelles headquarters. The four divisions of the Group revealed their plans, and this has to result in a yearly cash flow of €2 billion and a benefit of €1 billion by 2025. Remarkable also: the […]
May 04, 2022
D’Ieteren Group’s head office in Ixelles/Elsene will look different in the future. The Belgian importer and seller of brands such as Volkswagen and Audi is proposing a transformation project to prepare its headquarters for the future while maintaining its roots and presence in Brussels. Owned by the D’Ieteren family since 1906, the rue du Mail […]
April 01, 2022
D’Ieteren is buying itself into the profitable B2B bicycle leasing market through its Lab Box daughter, investing one million euros to gain a majority part in Belgian Joule. This Ghent-based start-up, founded in 2018, offers full bicycle fleet leasing for companies and governments with a portfolio of some 20 different brands. In that arena, D’Ieteren […]
March 28, 2022
Via its start-up incubator company, Lab Box, D’Ieteren Automotive takes over the Brussels taxi company Taxis Verts. By doing so, D’Ieteren wants to take the initiative “to digitalize this part of the mobility sector and make it more sustainable”. D’Ieteren wants to expand the Brussels taxi company to other cities in Belgium but is letting […]
March 09, 2022
D’Ieteren Automotive, the importer of the Volkswagen brands in Belgium, is showcasing at its distribution center in Kortenberg there is more than selling cars these days. It invites fleet owners to get to know – besides the newest models – a number of mobility services that grew out of its think tank Lab Box, going […]
February 15, 2022
D’Ieteren Group, the mother company of car importer D’Ieteren Automotive (importing the VW Group brands), further diversifies its portfolio. It has issued an offer for Parts Holding Europe (PHE), distributing parts and services for vehicles, mainly trucks. The offer accounts for €540 million, but D’Ieteren also has to consider that PHE is fairly heavily indebted. […]
February 10, 2022
Belgian’s most prominent car importer, D’Ieteren, is bringing together all its new bicycle businesses under the Lucien brand, the listed company announced on Thursday. Lucien is a nod to Lucien Van Impe, the last Belgian Tour winner. But it also refers to Lucien D’Ieteren (1880-1966), who decided in 1931 to switch from car bodybuilding to […]
January 31, 2022
A few days after D’Ieteren’s car and e-scooter sharing service Poppy Mobility blew its fourth birthday candle, the user base counter exceeds more than 100 000 today, the company heralds in a new press release. The free-floating fleet, operational in Antwerp, Brussels, Malines, and three airports, consists of 700 cars and 550 electric kick scooters. […]
January 14, 2022
Already the most established player in the field of performance cars, with Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Bugatti, the Belgian car importer D’Ieteren is adding one more name to its portfolio of exclusive brands: Rimac Automobili. David Favest, General Manager of Bentley, Lamborghini, and Bugatti at D’Ieteren, explains: “We are very proud of becoming one of […]
January 05, 2022
According to Belgian specialized financial newspaper De Tijd, Brussels-based D’Ieteren holding ranks first among the 82 best performing investing holdings worldwide. It proceeds even the Swedish private equity investor EQT of the Wallenberg family by offering its shareholders a 155% return. According to De Tijd, the car business is assumed to represent only 10% of […]
December 15, 2021
Earlier this year, Belgian car importer D’Ieteren announced that – besides car import – it would also focus on bicycle distribution and maintenance. Today, the group puts its money where its mouth is with the second major acquisition of iBikes, a group of bicycle shops in the Antwerp region. D’Ieteren has already made a significant […]
December 02, 2021
Trade unions and management at the Belgian D’Ieteren car group have reached a social agreement on the closure of the Drogenbos and Ixelles sites. Around a hundred employees will lose their job. The closure is scheduled for December 31, says the union. In June, negotiations were started at D’Ieteren to reduce the wage and working […]
October 13, 2021
Cupra, Seat’s performance brand, will be present at the Brussels Motor Show (BMS) from 14 till 23 January 2022, the Belgian importer D’Ieteren announced on Wednesday. It will be the only brand of the D’Ieteren portfolio, as it represents Cupra, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Porsche, Seat, Lamborghini, Bugatti, and Bentley in Belgium. D’Ieteren announced earlier not […]
October 05, 2021
Car importer and services group D’Ieteren has advanced plans to build a network of bicycle shops across Belgium. The projects are part of a process in which the company is shifting its focus from a car company to a “mobility provider”, says spokesperson Jean-Marc Ponteville. The official decision will be made in a few days. […]
September 28, 2021
The direction of D’Ieteren Centers has organized an exceptional works council on Monday where it announced that two of its centers would be closed at the end of the year, in Ixelles and Drogenbos. This has consequences for at least 103 jobs of the 386 people actually working in all D’Ieteren Centers. The decision seems […]
July 13, 2021
On Friday, D’Ieteren announced that it is investing € 1,2 billion in forklift trucks specialist TVH Parts. On Monday, they made public that three new shareholders are coming on board at car glass repairer Belron, known for the Carglass brand, for an amount of € 2,2 billion. The share transaction gives Belron an enterprise value […]
July 12, 2021
D’Ieteren is taking a 40% stake in TVH Parts. The Waregem (Belgium) headquartered TVH Parts is a global, independent leader in aftermarket parts of forklifts, industrial construction, and agricultural equipment. The investment amounts to 1,172 billion euro, according to the car service group. The forklift parts specialist has 81 branches in 26 countries on all […]
May 10, 2021
By 2025 the mobility activities of the D’ieteren Group have to halve their carbon footprint. This concerns the fleet and logistics activities and energy consumption. At the same time, the company is compensating for its CO2 emissions and tries to be carbon neutral. “Our engagement to reduce the CO2 emissions of our activities is very […]
February 25, 2021
The real estate division of the D’Ieteren Group in Belgium, D’Ieteren Immo, has developed a quarantine box for faulty electric and hybrid cars. The prefabricated concrete box is be delivered in one piece and fulfills the safety requirements for the temporary isolation of damaged high-tension vehicles for dealerships located in urban areas. When hybrid or […]
February 16, 2021
D’Ieteren, Belgium’s largest car importer representing all Volkswagen Group brands, counts on installing 5 600 EV charging points in 2021 at private homes and companies. That’s more than 100 chargers a week. In 2020, the number of installed chargers went from 435 the year before to 1 805. The chargers are delivered under the EDI […]
January 15, 2021
Belgian historical automotive importer D’Ieteren Auto changes its name to become ‘D’Ieteren’. Although maybe not clear to non-insiders at first sight, the new identity should position it along with the group’s other activities (Belron, Moleskine, and D’Ieteren Immo) and mark a change in strategy. By 2025, D’Ieteren aims at becoming the leader in sustainable mobility […]
April 17, 2024
The Swedish dealer holding Hedin, which has been active in Belux since 2018, will start to import the Chinese brand XPeng. The first units of the momentarily available P7 sedan and the large G9 SUV should be delivered before the end of summer. The prices in Belgium aren’t known yet, but normally, they will be […]
April 17, 2024
French company Hype’s hydrogen taxis are coming to Brussels, according to the business newspaper L’Echo. To tackle the market in the Belgian capital, Hype notably acquired a stake in the local taxi company Mol-Tax. The company would also install its green hydrogen stations in Brussels. Second hydrogen taxi project in Brussels From 2025, all new […]
April 15, 2024
Last Friday, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and other members of the federal and regional governments met with Audi’s top managers to try to save Audi Brussels. “The Factory of the Future” (award title in 2020) is fighting for its survival. Dark clouds are gathering on the horizon. A few months ago, Brussels was […]
April 03, 2024
Danish car subscription start-up ‘:Dribe’ is ogling Belgium to export its fully digital platform to the rest of Europe. Offering subscriptions of 30 days and the freedom to switch cars when needed, this concept of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) goes beyond any car leasing platform, the company claims. “We want to do this in collaboration with a […]
March 14, 2024
Car-sharing company GreenMobility is leaving Belgium and returning to its Danish home market. After previously exiting the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, and Sweden, the Belgian branch will also be sold or closed down. “A pity,” according to Steve Van Avermaet, responsible for GreenMobility’s Belgian activities. “We were the company’s first foreign market and the last one […]
February 26, 2024
Lizy, the Belgian market leader in second-hand leasing, turns five and is celebrating. After expanding to France and tripling turnover in 2023, the scale-up is raising 11.5 million euros of fresh capital. “Demand for affordable electric lease cars continues to grow, a gap in the market that Lizy is filling,” the company says. Five years […]
February 13, 2024
It isn’t a car, and it isn’t a moped on four wheels. Still, it can reach a top speed of 90 km/hour, and you need a driver’s license B for it in Belgium. Officially, it is a fully electric lightweight quadricycle (L7e) that looks like the direct reincarnation of the ultimate bubble car of the […]
February 05, 2024
According to the specialized German magazine Automobilwoche, there’s a possibility that the Audi plant in Brussels will be closed. In a worldwide restructuring of the VW Group factories (including those of premium daughter Audi), no new car would be allocated anymore to Brussels. Hence, the closing of the factory after 2027. Automobilwoche states that Audi […]
December 29, 2023
The Škoda Enyaq 60 GO is the latest of a series of electric vehicles in Belgium that sees its bare price plunge with an attractive €6 310 to get under the €40 000 threshold set by the Flemish government to be eligible for the 5 000 euro premium. But that twenty-million-euro pot will only benefit […]
December 21, 2023
Shared mobility platforms Poppy and GreenMobility are withdrawing from several regional capitals. As of January 1st, 2024, the typical red Poppy cars will no longer be seen in Ghent, Leuven, and Mechelen. The GreenMobility vehicles, on the other hand, will disappear from the streets in Brussels and Ghent. D’Ieteren’s subsidiary Poppy was launched in Mechelen […]
December 19, 2023
D’Ieteren, the Belgian VW Group importer, will offer the ID.3 and the ID.4 for under €40 000 in 2024. This significant price cut means Flemish private customers are eligible for the €5 000 EV subsidy, bringing down the total cost to the consumer to under €35 000. A discount of over €10 000 compared to […]
October 23, 2023
Cupra, the sportier arm of Spanish car manufacturer Seat (part of the VW Group), is bound to take over all car activities in the future. To prepare for this, it tries to be innovative with so-called city garages in major cities worldwide. From now on, Brussels will also have its Cupra Garage. With the opening […]
October 11, 2023
Hydrogen gas (H2) can be used as fuel for cabs and other cars in Brussels without any problems. That is the conclusion reached by D’Ieteren’s Taxis Verts and Colruyt’s Virya Energy after a one-year pilot project involving more than 55 000 km of driving. According to the two initiators, the zero-emission technology could, in the […]
September 08, 2023
Lucien, the bicycle shop chain under the wings of Belgian’s most significant car importer D’Ieteren, is expanding its territory again with the recent acquisition of ‘Fietsen King’ in Louvain. It will be the 17th Lucien shop. Until now, D’Ieteren’s bicycle subsidiary was mainly active in and around Brussels, Antwerp, and Ghent. Later this year, the […]
July 31, 2023
The Belgian manufacturers association Febiac has lost its communication director (again). Gabriel Goffoy, who came over from BMW Belux to succeed Joost Kaesemans in September 2021, is returning to its old barn to become General Manager of Mini Belux. Goffoy started his career at BMW in 2003 and introduced Mini (the newly created brand under […]
July 28, 2023
A Brussels Court of First Instance has ordered Volkswagen to pay damages to those affected by the cheating software scandal in which it is embroiled. The German carmaker must reimburse them 5% of the purchase price of their car. Consumer organization Test Aankoop/Test Achat (TA) had filed a class action or group claim for this, […]
June 13, 2023
After about 3,5 years, the Audi plant in Forest (Brussels) has built its 200 000th electric vehicle: a Soneira Red Q8 Sportback e-tron, the updated version of the original e-tron, which has been in production since late 2018. Later this year, the plant will also start building the smaller Q4 e-tron to meet global demand. […]
