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Renault Korea
Renault Korea Co., Ltd. (Korean: 르노코리아) is a South Korean car manufacturer headquartered in Busan where its single assembly site is also located, with additional facilities at Seoul (administration), Giheung (research and development) and Daegu (vehicle testing).
The company was first established as Samsung Motors in 1994 by the chaebol Samsung, with technical assistance from Nissan. It started selling cars in 1998, just before South Korea was hit by the East Asian financial crisis. In 2000, it became a subsidiary of the French car manufacturer Renault, being renamed Renault Samsung Motors, while Samsung maintained a minority ownership. It adopted Renault Korea Motors as trade name in March 2022 and as its legal name in August. In December 2022, Geely acquired a minority ownership in the company through capital increase as part of wider partnership agreement with Renault, although it still is a consolidated subsidiary of the latter.
In April 2024, the company adopted its present name, thus renamed to Renault Korea and officially using the brand name Renault. Renault Korea markets a range of cars, including electric models and crossovers.
In the early 1990s, Samsung's Chairman Lee Kun-hee recognised the automotive industry as the culmination of several others. For the Samsung Group, this would allow to leverage resources and technologies from the entire group including Samsung Electrics and Samsung Electronics. He initially tried to take control of Kia, but competition from other bidders and legal restrictions led to him dropping the idea. Kia was eventually purchased by Hyundai.
Lee decided to create a new carmaker, Samsung Motors (also known as SMI) and a truck manufacturer, Samsung Commercial Vehicles Co., Ltd. (Korean: 삼성상용차 주식회사; RR: Samseong Sangyongcha Jusikoesa), the latter through Samsung Heavy Industries with Nissan Diesel's support. SMI was established in 1994 (incorporated in 1995) and Daegu-based Samsung Commercial Vehicles in 1996. In March 1995, construction work began on the Busan factory. Shortly after SMI started its operations, the Asian financial crisis hit. Samsung divested itself of SMI as well as other non-core subsidiaries. SMI was put up for sale, with Daewoo Motors being one of the first interested companies, but, as the crisis deepened, Daewoo Motors itself was bought by GM. Hyundai Motors was also considered as a possible buyer, but corporate politics and strife between the Samsung Group and the Hyundai Group made this impossible. Negotiations with Renault started in December 1998, and in September 2000 the French automaker bought a 70% stake for US$560 million. Samsung Commercial Vehicles was kept by Samsung, but finally it filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2000.
Coupled with his interest on cars, Lee's project of building SMI as a global automotive company started out with technical assistance from Nissan, a company which at the time of SMI's early stages was in dire financial straits. SMI's affiliation with Nissan could have been one of the reasons for Renault buying a major share of the company, as Renault had become a major shareholder of Nissan by then. One of the very early planners for SMI has stated that technical affiliations for SMI were initially considered with Volkswagen, BMW or Honda. From 1998, Renault Samsung Motors sold cars in Chile with the introduction of the SQ5 (the current SM5).
After the 2000 acquisition, Renault renamed Samsung Motors as Renault Samsung Motors (RSM). That year, the company's sales began to improve. Journalists attribute this to the success of the first car manufactured at Busan in taxi fleets (the SM5), which led to increased confidence of the model within the rest of their customer base. During the following years, the company introduced a new vehicle range, including the SM3 in 2002, the SM7 in 2004 and the crossover QM5 in 2007. Over time, RSM changed its products from a Nissan-based architecture to a Renault-based one. As part of the Renault group, Renault Samsung became an export-oriented manufacturer.
In 2005, Renault increased its stake by acquiring an additional 10% share from the company's creditors. On 26 June 2009, Renault and Samsung agreed to renew the right of the former to use the "Samsung" trade mark on its products until 2020.
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Renault Korea
Renault Korea Co., Ltd. (Korean: 르노코리아) is a South Korean car manufacturer headquartered in Busan where its single assembly site is also located, with additional facilities at Seoul (administration), Giheung (research and development) and Daegu (vehicle testing).
The company was first established as Samsung Motors in 1994 by the chaebol Samsung, with technical assistance from Nissan. It started selling cars in 1998, just before South Korea was hit by the East Asian financial crisis. In 2000, it became a subsidiary of the French car manufacturer Renault, being renamed Renault Samsung Motors, while Samsung maintained a minority ownership. It adopted Renault Korea Motors as trade name in March 2022 and as its legal name in August. In December 2022, Geely acquired a minority ownership in the company through capital increase as part of wider partnership agreement with Renault, although it still is a consolidated subsidiary of the latter.
In April 2024, the company adopted its present name, thus renamed to Renault Korea and officially using the brand name Renault. Renault Korea markets a range of cars, including electric models and crossovers.
In the early 1990s, Samsung's Chairman Lee Kun-hee recognised the automotive industry as the culmination of several others. For the Samsung Group, this would allow to leverage resources and technologies from the entire group including Samsung Electrics and Samsung Electronics. He initially tried to take control of Kia, but competition from other bidders and legal restrictions led to him dropping the idea. Kia was eventually purchased by Hyundai.
Lee decided to create a new carmaker, Samsung Motors (also known as SMI) and a truck manufacturer, Samsung Commercial Vehicles Co., Ltd. (Korean: 삼성상용차 주식회사; RR: Samseong Sangyongcha Jusikoesa), the latter through Samsung Heavy Industries with Nissan Diesel's support. SMI was established in 1994 (incorporated in 1995) and Daegu-based Samsung Commercial Vehicles in 1996. In March 1995, construction work began on the Busan factory. Shortly after SMI started its operations, the Asian financial crisis hit. Samsung divested itself of SMI as well as other non-core subsidiaries. SMI was put up for sale, with Daewoo Motors being one of the first interested companies, but, as the crisis deepened, Daewoo Motors itself was bought by GM. Hyundai Motors was also considered as a possible buyer, but corporate politics and strife between the Samsung Group and the Hyundai Group made this impossible. Negotiations with Renault started in December 1998, and in September 2000 the French automaker bought a 70% stake for US$560 million. Samsung Commercial Vehicles was kept by Samsung, but finally it filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2000.
Coupled with his interest on cars, Lee's project of building SMI as a global automotive company started out with technical assistance from Nissan, a company which at the time of SMI's early stages was in dire financial straits. SMI's affiliation with Nissan could have been one of the reasons for Renault buying a major share of the company, as Renault had become a major shareholder of Nissan by then. One of the very early planners for SMI has stated that technical affiliations for SMI were initially considered with Volkswagen, BMW or Honda. From 1998, Renault Samsung Motors sold cars in Chile with the introduction of the SQ5 (the current SM5).
After the 2000 acquisition, Renault renamed Samsung Motors as Renault Samsung Motors (RSM). That year, the company's sales began to improve. Journalists attribute this to the success of the first car manufactured at Busan in taxi fleets (the SM5), which led to increased confidence of the model within the rest of their customer base. During the following years, the company introduced a new vehicle range, including the SM3 in 2002, the SM7 in 2004 and the crossover QM5 in 2007. Over time, RSM changed its products from a Nissan-based architecture to a Renault-based one. As part of the Renault group, Renault Samsung became an export-oriented manufacturer.
In 2005, Renault increased its stake by acquiring an additional 10% share from the company's creditors. On 26 June 2009, Renault and Samsung agreed to renew the right of the former to use the "Samsung" trade mark on its products until 2020.