Renault Korea Co., Ltd. (Korean: 르노코리아) 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 development) and Daegu (vehicle testing).

It started selling cars in 1998, just before South Korea was hit by the East Asian financial crisis.

In December 2022, Geely acquired a minority ownership in the company through capital increase as part of wider partnership agreement with Renault, although it still is a consolidated subsidiary of the latter.

[7] He initially tried to take control of Kia, but competition from other bidders and legal restrictions led to him dropping the idea.

Negotiations with Renault started in December 1998, and in September 2000 the French automaker bought a 70% stake for US$560 million.

Journalists attribute this to the success of the first car manufactured at Busan in taxi fleets (the SM5), which led to increased confidence of the model within the rest of their customer base.

[24][25] The pressure from both Hyundai and Kia, dominant automakers in the South Korean market, increased during the 2010s, pushing RSM sales down by 27% in 2011.

[32] In 2016, Renault Samsung introduced the SM6, a new mid-size model which is a Talisman with some minor changes for the South Korean market,[33] and the crossover QM6.

Tensions with labour increased, as the company started an early retirement plan aimed at reducing the workforce.

In October 2013 the car started to be assembled at the Busan plant[41] and in the same year it became the leading electric vehicle by sales in South Korea with a 58% market share.

[50][51] In January 2022, RSM's parent Renault and Geely signed an agreement by which the South Korean manufacturer would produce vehicles based on the latter Compact Modular Architecture platform,[52][53] initially intended for the domestic market.

[55][56] The capital increase operation was completed by the end of the year, leaving Renault with a 52.9% majority stake.

[58] The car manufacturing plant is located at Busan in the Sinho Regional Industrial Site and began production in 1998.

[61] The plant is divided into seven production shops (stamping, body, painting, bumper, assembly, al-casting and engine).

[62] At first, the facility was only involved in car engineering, but at the end of 2002 the RSM Design Centre (Korean: 르노삼성차 디자인센터; RR: Reuno Samseongja Dijain Senteo) was created within it to locally design various cars manufactured by the company.

[35] In March 2022, the company introduced a flatter, two-dimensional version of the eye of the typhoon as both marque and corporate logo.

[76][74] In April 2024, the company unified both imported and locally produced models under the Renault diamond marque logo.

[57] The advertising slogan of Renault Samsung Motors is Discover the Difference (Korean: 디스커버 더 디퍼런스; RR: Diseukeobeo Deo Dipeoreonseu)[77][78] and was introduced in 2009.

[80][82] The imported models introduced from 2017 onwards in South Korea kept their original names instead of adopting RSM's nomenclature.

[40] In April 2024, as most of the products were merged into the Renault branding scheme, the nomenclature system was eliminated, although two models (QM6 and SM6) kept their names.

The project was carried out through a joint venture, Busan Shinho Solar Power SPC (Korean: 부산신호태양광 특수목적법인; RR: Busan Sinho Taeyang-gwang Teugsumogjeogbeob-in), formed by RSM, Korea East-West Power and KC Cottrell, which also manages the plant.