Renault SamsungSM5

01

Origins

Samsung's automotive adventure produced its first car in 1998: the SM5, a Nissan Maxima-based saloon built at a new Busan plant to chaebol quality ambitions — launched directly into the Asian financial crisis that made the venture untenable. Renault's 2000 acquisition created Renault Samsung Motors, and the SM5 became its foundation: refined, Japanese-engineered, and quickly trusted by Korean buyers as the taxi and family staple that outlasted its parent's retreat. Successive generations moved to Renault platforms while the badge retained Samsung's lightning-ellipse until the licensing lapsed and the company became Renault Korea. The first SM5 remains the artefact: the only car Samsung ever mass-produced, and the seed of a marque that survived its own conglomerate.