Ancar (''Ancar Automóveis de Angola, SA'') is a private company in

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

which was founded in 2001 to put a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with

Škoda Auto Škoda Auto a.s. (), often shortened to Škoda, is a Czech automobile manufacturer established in 1925 as the successor to Laurin & Klement and headquartered in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. Škoda Works became state owned in 1948. After 199 ...

in place and to establish a car assembly line in Angola. Ancar was regarded as a

front company A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gr ...

of ''Ancar World Wide Investments Holding'', a company with dubious financial

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an capital, registered in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Today Ancar Angola now does not exist anymore and the project was ceased from both sides, from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

as well as the Angolan side. There were serious corruption allegations against the main responsibles.

History

The initiators of the project, at that time, were former Škoda Auto

board member A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

, Helmuth Schuster, and John Johannsen, searched by the

Spanish police Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

with an

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...

for serial cheating. Due to dubious business practices of the two,

German television Television in Germany began in Berlin on 22 March 1935, broadcasting for 90 minutes three times a week. It was home to the first public television station in the world, named ''Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow''. In 2000, the German television market h ...

channel

NDR NDR may refer to: Computing * Non delivery report, a return email message to a sender indicating failed message delivery * Network Data Representation, an implementation of the OSI model presentation layer Science and technology * Negative differ ...

broadcast on July 14, 2005 on her political program a report about the

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

scandal. According to this news, Volkswagen-Board responded with the dismissal of one board member and additionally ordered to stop the construction of the factory, some outside the Angolan Capital

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

. The reputation of Volkswagen in Africa was at stake. It was feared that the partner company is a dummy firm. Volkswagen only continued further negotiations until an extensive review of the company took place and then suspended the project.

Current situation

However, Volkswagen announced surprisingly in a press release on June 28, 2008 to continue construction works and to open the assembly factory in 2009. An investment of 15 million U.S. Dollars, including the establishment of a nationwide dealer network was planned too. Another Angolan company called ''ASGM'' came in to participate in this project with a capital of 48 million U.S. Dollars. Infrastructure and its associated dealer network are currently placed under

Volkswagen of South Africa Volkswagen of South Africa (Pty.) Ltd. is the South African subsidiary of German automotive manufacturing company Volkswagen Group based in Kariega (previously Uitenhage), Eastern Cape. History As early as the 1930s, the manufacturer Studebaker ...

. Indeed, the present state is, that the Volkswagen Group, currently has no plans to put this project back to work. (February 2011). According to the original plans that were in effect in the years 2001 to 2005, this factory would have been just an assembly operation, prior to dismantle cars in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, being shipped as parts to Angola and later to be reassembled. This method would have promised high profit gains to the operators. Due to this procedure, new jobs for the local people could have been created, which was supported by Angolan law.

China comes in

Because of the complications that led up to the highest government circles, the

Government of Angola The Cabinet of Angola is the chief executive (government), executive body of the Angola, Republic of Angola. References External linksgoverno.gov.ao
(in Portuguese) Angola politics-related lists, Cabinet Lists of government ministers of ...

made it publicly clear to distance itself from the case. (Welwitschia dos Santos, a daughter of President

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for the ...

participated in Ancar). Instead, on the designated site, the Polo Industrial de Viana, Viana,

China International Fund China International Fund (CIF) is a Chinese-owned group of Hong Kong investors that describes its major businesses as including "large-scale national reconstruction projects and infrastructure construction in developing countries". The CIF and its ...

funded a project under the name of a joint venture called ''CSG - Automóvel fabricado em Angola''. Today, there are already built cars like ''Yumsun Nissan'' models.Official Website CSG featuring Yumsun models
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119011900/http://www.csgauto.com/english/index.html , date=November 19, 2010 (as of 2011).

References

External links

The Times: The sex and bribes scandal at VW that could finish Schröder

Angola: Emerging Markets Outlook: Angola, the new Detroit?

Official Zhengzhou Yumsun Nissan Website
Car manufacturers of Angola Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2001