Renault Samsung Motors
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Renault Samsung Motors ( 르노삼성자동차 ) is a South Korean automobile manufacturer headquartered in Busan. It was first established as Samsung Motors in 1994 by the chaebol Samsung and started selling cars in 1998, just before South Korea was hit by the Asian financial crisis. Since September 2000, it has been a subsidiary of Renault, although Samsung maintains a minority ownership.
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Renault Samsung electric vehicles
Renault Samsung Motors (Korea,) the local unit of French automaker Renault SA, began producing its electric sedan the SM3 in October 2013.
The annual production capacity for its SM3 electric vehicle is to reach up to 4,000 units starting 2014 at its assembly plant in Busan. The SM3 EV can travel 135 kilometers on a single charge, according to the car-maker. Though the price for an SM3 EV is set at 45 million won (US$42,000), with government subsidies for electric car buyers, the price tag comes down to 22 million won, the company said. As part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the environment ministry and provincial authorities in Jeju have begun providing subsidies worth 15 million won and 8 million won, respectively, to zero-emission car buyers. As of June 2013, a total of 1,146 electric cars were used in the country, mostly by government agencies and public corporations, according to the environment ministry. |
South Korea has installed 1,165 charging stations for electric vehicles across the country including 110 quick charge stations.
Source: Electric Vehicle News, October 2013
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