Renault Samsung
With its headquarters in Busan, where it also has its lone assembly plant, Renault Korea Motors is a South Korean automaker with other facilities in Seoul, Giheung, and Daegu. With technological support from Nissan, the chaebol Samsung founded the business as Samsung Motors in 1994.
The chairman of Samsung, Lee Kun-hee, recognized the automobile sector as the conclusion of various others in the early 1990s. This would provide the Samsung Group the opportunity to use the resources and technology available across the board, including those from Samsung Electrics and Samsung Electronics. He first attempted to take over Kia, but due to competition from other bidders and legal limitations, he abandoned the plan. Hyundai finally bought up Kia.
Lee made the decision to start two new companies: Samsung Motors (commonly known as SMI) and Samsung Commercial Vehicles Co., Ltd., the latter of which was created via Samsung Heavy Industries with assistance from Nissan Diesel. SMI was founded in 1994 (incorporated in 1995), while Samsung Commercial Vehicles, situated in Daegu, was founded in 1996. When SMI first began operating, the Asian financial crisis had just begun. SMI as well as other non-core companies were sold off by Samsung. Daewoo Motors was one of the initial purchasers of SMI once it was put up for sale, but as the situation worsened, GM eventually purchased Daewoo Motors as well.
Another potential buyer was Hyundai Motors, but due to internal conflicts between the Samsung Group and the Hyundai Group, this was not possible. In September 2000, Renault purchased a 70% interest for US$560 million after negotiations with the French carmaker began in December 1998. Samsung preserved Samsung Commercial Vehicles, but towards the end of 2000, it eventually filed for bankruptcy.
A Nissan Cefiro S Touring served as the foundation for a previous iteration of the SM5.
1999 Samsung SQ5, then known as the SM5.
Along with his passion for automobiles, Lee's vision to create SMI as a worldwide automotive corporation began with technical support from Nissan, a business that at the time of SMI's early phases was facing severe financial difficulties. Given that Renault was already a significant stakeholder in Nissan at the time, the fact that SMI was connected to Nissan may have been one of the motivations for Renault to purchase a sizable portion of the business. According to one of the SMI's very first planners, technical ties with Volkswagen, BMW, or Honda were once explored. With the debut of the SQ5, Renault Samsung Motors began selling automobiles in Chile in 1998. (The current SM5).
South Korea: Renault Samsung Motors
https://www.renaultgroup.com ›