(Yicai) Jan. 18 -- Guangdong Yongao Dealer Group, which operates more than 40 4S car dealership stores, appears to have gone out of business.

There were no staff or vehicles in one of the group’s 4S stores in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan, Yicai noted today.

“The store was still operating on Jan. 16, but on the afternoon of Jan. 17, a member of staff from a bank came to count the vehicles and had them towed away,” said a sales person at the store.

The bank was trying to safeguard its property as Yongao Dealer had mortgaged the vehicles, the person added. In addition, the company still owes employees six months’ wages.

A customer at the scene told Yicai that he paid CNY127,000 (USD17,760) for a new vehicle at the store in December, and yesterday was pick-up day. But when he arrived, he learned that the new car could not be delivered as a result of the bankruptcy of the store’s parent company. 

Yicai later found that the door to the company office was closed, and a group of activists who claimed the company owend them money had gathered outside.

According to the public business registration information, Guangdong Yongao Investment Group is a 4S auto trader offering sales, maintenance, and spare parts. It owns and operates over 40 4S franchise stores selling well-known brands in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhuhai in Guangdong province, as well as Xiangyang in central Hubei province and Jining in eastern Shandong province.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting