Renault-Samsung
Nissan places bid to acquire Ssangyong
It was revealed recently that Nissan has placed a bid to acquire Korean auto maker Ssangyong which entered bankruptcy protection in February 2009. Nissan is leading Renault, the company that holds the biggest share in the Japanase brand into the potential acquisition. Apparently up to seven parties have expressed interest in Ssangyong and one would need to fork out 700 billion won or US$572 million to purchase a controlling stake in the company.
Companies that are part of the seven include India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Ruia Group who are owners of Dunlop India and Korean aluminium manufacturer SM Group. Having Ssangyong in Renault-Nissan’s umbrella would help Renault’s Korean unit Renault Samsung Motors achieve more capacity in the country while Nissan can begin manufacturing its cars there.
Ssangyong will short list the bidders for an auction by June 4th and the candidates are expected to submit binding bids by July 20th. More will be revealed soon, stay tuned!
Renault-Samsung SM5: First official images released
This is Renault-Samsung’s latest product, the third generation SM5 sedan. Initial images of the sedan were released by the company and sales are expected to initiate later next month. The SM5 is based on the current generation Renault Laguna and has a Nissan-sourced 2.0 liter petrol powerplant that is mated to a 6-speed automatic slush box under the hood. A 2.0 liter diesel unit is expected to made available as well.
Apparently it took the company about 36 months to develop the new SM5 and it costed 400 million won which is equivalent to US$ 340 million. The company revealed that the sedan has features like adaptive xenon headlights, front seats with massage function and more. Look for more images after the jump. The company also recently revealed the SM3 which is based on the Renault Fluence. Read the rest of this entry.
Renault Fluence for the Korean market: Renault-Samsung SM3
Renault revealed that the freshly-launched Fluence will be only offered in Turkey, Russia and Romania (for now at least), but what if you’re in Korea and you want one? Well, allow me to present to you the Renault-Samsung SM3 sedan, which is basically a rebadged version of the Fluence for the Korean market, with subtle changes here and there, such as a different grille.
The makers of the SM3 revealed that the sedan (and the Fluence) is based on Renault-Nissan’s C platform, which is one segment above the B platform, used to underpin the Nissan Sylphy. Furthermore, we have also learned that the electric version of Renault Fluence, which is arriving in 2011, will be offered in certain countries such as Isreal, where it will be part of the Project Better Place.
The project is centered around making electricity more accessible via charging stations and battery-swap centers. What’s battery-swap you say? Well, it means that you can simply drive your electric car into a specified station, and the battery pack in you car will be swapped with one that has been fully charged. Everything is automated and you don’t need to get out of your car. To better understand it, there is a video for you after the jump. There are also some images of the Renault-Nissan SM3. Read the rest of this entry.
