More than any other car made in Korea based on another manufacturer's overseas models, you can see the Nissan in Samsung. They're not identical, but the differences are so minor, you'd never notice unless you own one, or you're seeing them side-by-side.

Samsung's consumer car division is a joint venture with Renault, who own a chunk of and share platforms with Nissan. This is

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Samsung SM7

The Samsung SM7 is pretty obviously the Samsung version of the Nissan Maxima.

I presume that 35 to mean the Nissan-Renault 3.5 liter that's popping up all over the place. Oh, I'm right.

Don't take that to mean that this is a total copy of the Maxima. It does have different engine options from the US version. (2.3 liter, costs 28,000,000 won, as opposed to the 3.5 liter's 39,000,000. I know other things get upgraded for that 11 grand, but DAMN.)

And of course, while it looks a lot like a Maxima, it shares little to no sheet metal with it. (Why?)

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Samsung SM3

The Samsung SM3 is pretty obviously Samsung's Sentra/Sunny.



It really isn't all that common around here, actually, so I haven't been able to get many pictures. It is still around, and does seem to be their least changed model. I think it's obvious why they wouldn't be as popular as the larger Samsungs: there are plenty of options in this car's range in Korea, and every repair shop in the country is going to know the Hyundai Avella backward and forward.



There was almost a year between the above picture and this one.



Had to seize the opportunity. Anyhow, the looks have improved on the new one.

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Samsung SM520

Now for the bigger cars, you've got fewer options, especially if you haven't got the budget to buy a foreign car. (And non-korean cars get taxed to hell. A BMW 3 series STARTS at over 54 grand in Korea.)

So the Samsung SM520 (their earlier mid-sized car) is pretty popular. It's quite common as a taxi, actually, and is pretty comfortable. (Actually that's true of the SM3, as well)

I'm not sure that there weren't other engines besides the 2.0 which I presume powered this thing.

I've just never seen one labelled anything but "SM520."

Note the festoonery on the bumper. This is purely practical, just an additional self-sacrificing layer of bumper to defend the car against...Korea.

For some reason the front end of this thing has always made me think "Subaru Legacy."

 

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Samsung SM5

Obviously succeeding the SM520, and coming in between the SM3 and SM7, it's Samsung's Altima.



It does continue using a 2.0 liter engine. Not sure if it's the same one, but on the (UTTERLY USELESS) Renault Samsung site, it's listed as an "SR-II" engine.

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