Renault Samsung Unveils All-new SM7

Back in March, Renault-Nissan’s Korean division Samsung brought the first sketches of its big sedan offering, and a few weeks later the we got to see it as a concept. Now we get to see the full production-ready form of the upcoming car that was officially shown at the 2011 Seoul Motor Show this past April in concept form.

With the exception of some changes that are to be expected from a car that they can actually sell at a relatively affordable price, like the use of slightly smaller alloy wheels, changes to the front and rear bumper, the SM7 looks exactly like its concept form.

At the front, we spot the large and imposing single-structured grille flanked by the original look of the car’s adaptive and directional bi-Xenon headlights. At the back, the the SM7 still has exhaust on either side, but the configuration has been changed to one with four tips in total.

The production version of this design study is set to enter the South Korean market in the second half of the year as a replacement for the current model, which is based on the aging Nissan J31 platform (also used by the Asian Nissan Teana and the North American Nissan Maxima). The new car will make use of an elongated version of the SM5 platform. Renault Samsung says Korean customers can expect to see the SM7 on the market by the end of the year.

Renault Samsung has not yet provided details on the available engine range, but given the size of the SM7 the lineup will most likely include a two V6 gasoline units.