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Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Renault is making a big saloon again - but it's not about to risk trying to sell it to European buyers.
This is the reborn Safrane, a large Korean-built saloon that the French manufacturer is aiming to sell in the middle East. It's powered by a 2.3-litre V6 engine producing around 170bhp or a new 2.0-litre four-cylinder motor; both units are mated to an automatic transmission driving the front wheels.
Renault is keen to pitch the Safrane as a premium item (climate control, Bose stereo etc), but it sports one of the most complex, muddy bloodlines of any car on the market; it's essentially a rebadged Samsung SM5 (a model only available in Korea), which is essentially a rebadged Nissan Teana (a model only available in Japan), which sits on the same platform as Nissan's Maxima and Altima.
The new Safrane will be built at Busan in South Korea, alongside Renault's first joint venture with Samsung Motors, the Koleos SUV. Sales start in early September.
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