The Renault Samsung SM7 is an

executive car Executive car is a British term for a large car which is equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars), and small ...

full-size car Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars, it is the largest size class for cars. In Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment. Af ...

(

E-segment The E-segment is the 5th category of the European segments for passenger cars, synonymous with the term executive car. E-Segment is a niche in Europe (2-3% penetration in 2010s). As of 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, E-segment sales account for 2.7 ...

in Europe) that was produced by the South Korean manufacturer

Renault Samsung Motors Renault Korea Motors ( ko, 르노코리아자동차), is a South Korean car manufacturer headquartered in Busan where its single assembly site is also located, with additional facilities at Seoul (administration), Giheung (research and develop ...

from 2004 to 2020.

First generation (EX2)

In October 2002,

started to work on the "EX" project, a new car based on the Nissan J31 platform which shared underpinnings with the

Nissan Teana The is a mid-size sedan produced by Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan. It was exported as the Nissan Maxima and Nissan Cefiro to certain markets. It replaces the Nissan Bluebird, Laurel and Cefiro. It shares a platform with the Nissan Ma ...

(in Asian markets) and the sixth-generation

Nissan Maxima The Nissan Maxima is a full-size car manufactured and marketed by Nissan and offered as Nissan's flagship sedan primarily in North America, the Middle East, and China — and currently in its eighth generation. Having debuted for model year 1 ...

(in Europe, North America and Australia). On 30 November 2004, the new car was revealed to the public as a high-end model. To distinguish it from the Teana various changes were made to the design with the aim of giving it a more solid image. The car had a significant safety equipment as standard. It was presented in five trim levels: SE, XE, LE, XE35 and RE35.

Engines

The SM7 is fitted with either a 2.3L or 3.5L Neo VQ V6 engine, developed by

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

. The 2.3L version was fitted to the SE, XE, LE trim levels and the 3.5L to the XE35 and RE35.

2008 facelift

In 2008 a facelifted SM7 called New Art () was introduced, with a new front grille and improvements to handling and acceleration. The car dimensions were also slightly changed.

Gallery

File:00 SAMSUNG SM7 1.jpg, 2009 Renault Samsung SM7 New Art front File:00 SAMSUNG SM7 2.jpg, 2009 Renault Samsung SM7 New Art rear

Second generation (L47)

A new generation SM7, based on a stretched version of the third generation Renault Samsung SM5 (L43), was revealed and went on sale in South Korea since August 2011. A near-production concept version was presented in April. The development of the new car took more than 32 months, at a cost of about 400 billion won (270 million

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s). It was conducted by the

R & D Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

department of Renault Samsung. The powertrain consists of two third-generation

Nissan VQ engine The VQ is a family of V6 24V automobile engines developed by Nissan with displacements varying from 2.0 L to 4.0 L. It is an aluminum block DOHC 4-valve (per cylinder) design with aluminum heads. It is fitted with Nissan's EGI/ECCS s ...

s (of 2.5 and 3.0L) coupled with a 6-speed

manual Manual may refer to: Instructions * User guide * Owner's manual * Instruction manual (gaming) * Online help Other uses * Manual (music), a keyboard, as for an organ * Manual (band) * Manual transmission * Manual, a bicycle technique similar to ...

and

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...

s. The car has an integrated front bumper-grill with bi-xenon adaptive

headlamp A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...

s an

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

lamps on the rear. Renault Samsung presented three trim levels called SE, LE and RE. The equipment, depending on version, includes three-zone automatic air conditioning, improved ABS system, special

headrest Head restraints (also called headrests) are an automotive safety feature, attached or integrated into the top of each seat to limit the rearward movement of the adult occupant's head, relative to the torso, in a collision — to prevent or ...

, fragrance diffuser, massaging seats, dual-stage airbags,

paddle shift A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened distal end (i.e. the ''blade''), used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered wa ...

ing and pressure-sensitive dampers.

Engines

LPG

In August 2015, Renault Samsung introduced a

liquified petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking equ ...

-powered SM7.

2012 facelift

The 2013 model year of the SM7 added a

blind spot monitor The blind spot monitor or blind-spot monitoring is a vehicle-based sensor device that detects other vehicles located to the driver’s side and rear. Warnings can be visual, audible, vibrating, or tactile. Blind spot monitors may do more than ...

system, a new satellite navigation and multimedia system and tyre pressure sensors. It also had minor changes to the front grille design.

2014 facelift

In September 2014 Renault Samsung unveiled a facelifted SM7, the SM7 Nova (). The car incorporated the renovated design of the company introduced in the QM3, with a new front-end layout. It has a new

infotainment Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of infor ...

system and a "

smart Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * ''SMart'', a children's television ser ...

mirroring" application. "Nova" is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for new star.

Renault Talisman

The Renault Talisman is a revised version of the SM7 sold exclusively in the Chinese market since June 2012, under the

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

marque. It was Renault's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

saloon in China. The Talisman takes its name from a 2001 concept car and was unveiled at the 2012

Auto China Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, Beijing Motor Show or Auto China () is an auto show held biennially in Beijing, China since 1990. China is currently the largest auto market in the world. 2020 The 2020 Auto China show was due to open o ...

. The aim of its introduction was to reach the young businessmen.

End of production

According to press reports, Renault Samsung stopped production of the SM7 in late 2019 and all stock was sold by early January 2020. The company removed the car from sale on its website that month.

References

External links

* {{Renault SM7 Executive cars Full-size vehicles Sedans Front-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 2004