Renault Samsung's Export Breathing Room... Secures XM3 Export Volume to Europe

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] The export of the premium design compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) XM3, representing Renault Samsung Motors, to Europe has been confirmed.

On the morning of the 23rd (local time), Renault Group officially announced through an online unveiling event that the XM3, developed as a global project by Renault Samsung, will be produced at the Busan plant and sold in global markets including Europe starting next year.

The export name of the XM3 unveiled for the European market has been decided as 'Renault New ARKANA' according to Renault Group's global project naming, with the main powertrains being hybrid and 1.3ℓ gasoline direct injection turbo engines.

The New ARKANA will target major European markets such as France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and Germany, and plans to expand sales to regions including Chile, where exports were previously decided, as well as Japan and Australia. The New ARKANA differs significantly from the existing Arkana, which is a Russia domestic-only model, in many aspects including platform, engine, and multimedia system, as it is a model aimed at the global market.

The New ARKANA is the first model introduced to the European market since Luca de Meo, the CEO newly responsible for Renault Group since July, took office. Renault Group has appointed the XM3, named New ARKANA, as the first model to inject new vitality into the European automobile market, which has been stagnant due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Developed as Renault Group's next-generation global compact SUV project, the XM3 was first introduced domestically in March and created a stir in the fiercely competitive domestic compact SUV market, selling 22,252 units in the first half of this year alone.

Launched under difficult conditions due to the spread of COVID-19 in the domestic market, the XM3 achieved successful market settlement by actively utilizing online non-face-to-face tools based on excellent design and product competitiveness. This has been evaluated as one of the most successful cases within Renault Group this year.

The confirmation of European export can be attributed to the thorough quality control at the Busan plant and the achievements of Renault Samsung employees who developed the XM3 into a globally competitive model. Additionally, the fact that the QM6 (export name Koleos), which is exported to 80 countries worldwide including Europe, is produced entirely at the Busan plant and has already received top-level quality evaluations within Renault Group positively influenced the decision to produce the XM3 at the Busan plant.

Dominique Signora, President of Renault Samsung, said, "How much XM3 export volume we can secure in the future depends on how well we can satisfy global consumers' expectations with our differentiated product competitiveness," and urged, "I ask labor and management to work together wholeheartedly for the continuous success of XM3 in overseas markets."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.