Samsung Production By Model : 2000-14

Samsung is a very large and successful Korean conglomerate which diversified into cars, commencing production in 1998. Almost immediately sales were hit by the Asian financial crisis and by the year 2000 it became part of the Renault Group with Samsung retaining a minority share.

The first model was the SM5, basically a Nissan Maxima. The next car was the SM3 in 2002, again a Nissan based model on the compact Sunny. The SM7 was also based on the Maxima and was a full sized luxury sedan that commenced production in 2004. In 2007 the QM5 SUV was released, also known as the Renault Koleos. Finally the QM3 or Captur was introduced, a small SUV.

Below are production figures as I understand them to be correct.

	Yr	SM5	SM3	QM3	QM5	SM7	Total
		Lattitude	Fluence	Captur	Koleos	Talisman
	1998	41,593	-	-	-	-	41,593
	1999	6,362	-	-	-	-	6,362
	2000	26,862	-	-	-	-	26,862
	2001	68,679	-	-	-	-	68,679
	2002	100,148	16,817	-	-	-	116,965
	2003	84,999	32,631	-	-	-	117,630
	2004	55,972	19,481	-	-	5,453	80,906
	2005	63,272	30,081	-	-	25,085	118,438
	2006	71,675	71,817	-	-	17,807	161,299
	2007	76,363	82,650	-	5,178	15,081	179,272
	2008	54,188	65,190	-	9,935	14,687	144,000
	2009	62,091	80,480	-	7,972	18,395	168,938
	2010	82,316	120,394	-	5,844	14,288	222,842
	2011	46,869	84,798	-	7,510	10,630	149,807
	2012	34,032	46,560	-	4,747	3,816	89,155
	2013	30,361	23,992	1,352	5,341	3,805	64,851
	2014	27,808	21,467	20,553	9,234	4,801	83,863
	Total	885,635	696,358	21,905	55,761	133,848	1,793,507

Data source: Michel Freyssenet & Renault.

It seems that Renault's Korean operation hasn't been as productive as hoped for. Domestic sales are muted and exports subdued. The Samsung brand was rarely seen outside of Korea and is no longer used on exported products.

With capacity to produce 300,000 cars p.a in Busan, Korea, there is potential utilisation going begging. In 2014 the Nissan Rogue (X-Trail) started to be made and exported from Korea which makes commercial sense. So what future does the Samsung brand have?

Don't these people get comfort breaks? Shameful