Renault Korea SM5 History

The SM5 was the first car sold by Samsung Motors, going on sale on 5 March 1998. The inaugural generation was a rebadged fourth-generation Nissan Maxima/Cefiro (A32 platform), sharing that car's 2.0- and 2.5-litre VQ-series V6 engines; it captured roughly 4 % of the Korean market in its first year with 41,593 units sold.

Following Renault's acquisition of a 70 % stake in 2000, the SM5 continued through two more generations that drew increasingly on Renault-Nissan Alliance platforms. The second generation launched in 2005 and a third generation arrived in 2010. All three generations positioned the SM5 as an upmarket mid-size option against the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima in South Korea.

Production of the SM5 ended in June 2019 after approximately 750,000 cumulative units built in the Busan plant over 21 years, making it the brand's highest-volume sedan across its entire history.