Once completed the production of the flagship hatchback Vel Satis, Renault leader suddenly found myself Hatchback Laguna. Paradoxically, - D-class car headed the range of one of the world's largest automakers. It looked all this, to say the least, undignified. However, the French quickly rectify the situation.
Almost all competitors Renault have in their lineup sedan E class. And the Peugeot and Citroen, not to mention the Germans, Japanese and Koreans. The French also have a car - Renault Safrane (turned Nissan Teana I), but in Europe it is not for sale, and only plug the gaps in the markets of the Middle East, which have not yet had time to forget Safrane previous generation. For Europe, needed something more modern and original than the old Japanese sedan with a diamond on the grill. And the search was found ... in Korea. For Renault has become commonplace to borrow models from their Korean subsidiaries »- Samsung Motors. Because it is so taught and bequeathed a great "cost killer", the president of the alliance Renault-Nissan, Carlos Ghosn. Why spend money on new and duplicative development, if there is such a wonderful thing as badge-engineering? Take the car and are already being manufactured by the emblems of plywood and a small improvement, taking into account the specifics of a given market, is transformed into an entirely new model. This was the case with the Renault Koleos and the Safrane, so was the case with the new French leader, dubbed the Renault Latitude. The Koreans borrowed sedan Samsung SM5, built on a platform of Renault Laguna, and by little creative manipulation of the emblems and nameplates have turned the last of Renault Latitude. Cheap and strong. And most importantly, this approach allows to kill several birds with one stone. Renault has a new model, the power plant in the city of Busan Samsung optional download, which is important in a crisis, and the costs of the introduction of "operational" the new flagship will penny.
