Still nursing its wounds from the fallout with Nissan following the Carlos Ghosn saga, Renault is now back in the dating scene and is now going into bed with China’s Geely, while remaining married to Nissan. It’s complicated.

Geely now owns 34.02 percent of Renault Korea Motors, formerly known as Renault Samsung Motors, the company that developed the second generation A32 Cefiro and the N16 Sentra for Nissan, to be sold in Asian markets.

In recent times, Samsung-badged Renault cars have not been very well received in Korea, as these French-developed models lack competitive edge offered by equivalent Hyundai and Kia models.

Despite its ties with Renault, Samsung is still seen by Korean buyers as a domestic brand, a bit like our Toyota- / Daihatsu-derived Perodua models.

The Renault-Samsung partnership is now in a transitionary phase to be a Renault-only brand, as Samsung (specifically Samsung Card, which owns 19.9 percent of the joint venture) has agreed to drop its name from Renault cars sold in Korea and is selling all its stakes in Renault Korea Motors.

To address its weak standing in Korea, Renault Korea Motors wants to leverage on Geely’s greater experience in hybrids, to develop a new model that will be built at the company’s plant in Busan, South Korea, for sale in Korea as well as to export markets, starting 2024.

These future Renault-badge Geely models for Korea will be based on Geely’s CMA platform, which already underpins the Volvo XC40, all-new 2023 Geely Boyue L, as well as derivate SUV-Coupe models like the Volvo C40 and Geely Xingyue.

The first model from their partnership will have an SUV-Coupe bodystyle, but Renault describes it as a D-segment model, which CMA can also accommodate (Geely Xingyue L for example).

Also read: 2021 Geely Xingyue L launched in China, Volvo tech but cheaper than a Proton X70

Renault Korea Motors also said it would invest more than 900 million euros in South Korea in the next six years, with spending on software, connectivity and electrification.

“Renault Korea Motors' Busan plant will be the key export hub for our mid- to large-sized vehicles,” said Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group at a press conference in Seoul last week.

“For that, Renault Group is willing to invest hundreds of millions of Euros in Korea for the next six years.”

“Korea is very good platform to export our products,” de Meo added. “Korea has signed free trade agreements with so many countries, and it has roles as a bridgehead of manufacturing vehicles and exporting them.”

Meanwhile across the Yellow Sea, Renault wants to re-enter China with Geely’s help, two years after a nasty separation its Chinese wife Dongfeng Nissan, and the latter’s sister Dongfeng Renault.