Renault Samsung Motors, the French carmaker’s Korean subsidiary, unveiled the QM3 urban crossover at the Seoul Motor Show. Essentially a rebadged Renault Captur, the QM3 will slot in Renault Samsung’s range below the QM5, known as the Renault Koleos in Europe and other markets.
The launch of the QM3 shows that rebadging between Renault and its Korean affiliate works both ways, as so far only Renault Samsung vehicles were rebadged as Renaults and not the other way round – the Renault Samsung SM3, SM5 and QM5 are sold in Europe as Renault Fluence, Latitude and Koleos respectively.
As expected, the QM3 is identical with the Captur, with badges being the only difference. Like in Europe, the QM3 targets young Korean consumers looking for alternatives to traditional B-segment vehicles.
“Renault Samsung QM3 combines in a single compact vehicle the best of three worlds: the sportiness of an SUV, the convenient comfort of an MPV and the driving pleasure of a hatchback,” said Laurens van den Acker, Senior Vice President, Design, Renault Group.
Renault Samsung didn’t offer technical details, but it’s safe to say the QM3 will carry over the same engines from the Captur. The car will be launched in Korea in the second half of this year, with pricing to be announced at a later date.
By Dan Mihalascu
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