HDS Brandweertechniek and De Vries Ambulances to continue on together
They were already in the same holding and even under the same roof: HDS Brandweertechniek and De Vries Ambulances. On 1 January, the two companies were merged into a single entity: Dutch Rescue Vehicles. Behind the scenes, however, much more has happened since De Vries moved in with HDS in Hoogeveen in 2005.
HDS was the continuation of a succession of companies that had been building fire engines, among other things, in Hoogeveen for many decades. De Vries Ambulances was the product of the De Vries car companies and ambulance service in Assen, which started in the seventies by importing American ambulances, principally the Chevrolet Van.
In 2008, Dutch Rescue Holding BV was taken over by MAN Truck & Bus. The companies had already worked together for years before that, as HDS assembled the MAN chassis that was sold to the fire fighting sector. The acquisition, therefore, was the logical next step.