Renault Samsung to launch new SM5 sedan in early 2010

YONGIN, South Korea, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- Renault Samsung Motors Co., the South
Korean unit of French carmaker Renault SA, plans to begin selling a new version
of its SM5 sedan early next year to boost its sales, the company's top executive
said Tuesday.
Jean-Marie Hurtiger, chief executive officer of Renault Samsung, said he was
confident that the new SM5, equipped with either a 2-liter gasoline or diesel
engine, would help it better compete with local strongholder Hyundai Motor Co. in
the country's lucrative market for midsize sedans.
"The new SM5 will strongly appeal to a majority of customers for the midsize
segment," Hurtiger told reporters at the company's design center in the city of
Yongin, about 50km south of Seoul, after showing off the new model.
The new SM5 offers more interior space and a stronger on-road presence, along
with additional high-tech amenities, according to company officials.
Some officials at Renault Samsung have said the company will launch the new model
in South Korea in January next year, but the chief executive declined to give an
exact date for the launch.
Renault Samsung was created in 2000, when Renault acquired a controlling 80.1
percent stake from the former automotive unit of Samsung Group, the nation's
biggest business conglomerate.
In the first 11 months of this year, Renault Samsung's auto sales fell 8.2
percent from a year ago to 166,585 units.
A sharp drop in exports, hit by the global economic crisis, was behind the
decline. For the January-December period, Renault Samsung saw exports plunging
44.9 percent to 48,895 units, while domestic sales gained 26.8 percent to 117,680
units.
Hurtiger said he was optimistic about the short-term prospects for the Korean
market for passenger sedans.
"We see that the market remain strong at least until the first half of 2010,"
Hurtiger said.
Meanwhile, Alain Diboine, chief of the design center at Renault Samsung, said the
company is developing an electric car based on the SM3 sedan and plans to sell it
in South Korea in late 2011 or early 2012.
(END)