VW to Assemble, Sell Cars in Angola

Volkswagen (VW), Europe's leading car maker, said on Friday it planned to assemble and market its VW and Skoda models in Angola. "We want to establish a foothold in the Angolan market," VW said in a statement. The car maker planned to build an assembly line for SKD (semi knocked down) production of VW and Skoda models and establish a dealer network. VW's Luanda-based partner, ANCAR, would invest $48 million (€37 million) in "an assembly line for VW and Skoda vehicles, a central parts store, a training center, and a nationwide dealer network," the statement said. In the first phase, production would start at the SKD production facility close to Luanda in April of this year and its capacity would be gradually built up to 160 vehicles per day. Annual output was set to rise from 10,000 vehicles this year to 20,000 in 2007. Angola currently imports over 100,000 vehicles each year, including used cars, VW said.