Samsung Commercial Vehicles (, ) was a South Korean

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

s, bus and

construction equipment Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large con ...

manufacturer established by the Samsung Group in 1996 and closed in 2000 as a result of the

1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

. The company was formed through a

corporate spin-off A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. It is distinct ...

from

Samsung Heavy Industries Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. () is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world and one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea (including Hyundai and Hanwha). Geoje (in South Gyeongsang Province) is one of the largest shipyards ...

History

In 1992, Samsung started to seek approval to create a commercial vehicles' assembly plant through

, with Nissan Diesel's technological assistance. By 1994 the local government reluctantly granted all permissions, although Samsung Heavy Industries was assembling heavy trucks from May 1993, and also produced

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

prototypes between 1993 and 1994 (SEV-I, SEV-II and SEV-III). In 1996, Samsung Commercial Vehicles was spun off from Samsung Heavy Industries and on the same year was started the construction of a commercial vehicle plant in

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

. Truck production was moved from

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

to the new facility by late 1997. The company also opened a technical service centre at

Pyeongtaek Pyeongtaek (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Located in the southwestern part of the province, Pyeongtaek was founded as a union of two districts in 1940. It was elevated to city status in 1986 and is home to a South Korean naval b ...

. The construction equipment business of Samsung Heavy Industries (mainly producing

excavator Excavators are heavy equipment (construction), heavy construction equipment primarily consisting of a backhoe, boom, dipper (or stick), Bucket (machine part), bucket, and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The modern excavator's ...

s) was sold to

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

for in July 1998, following the onset of the

Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide economic meltd ...

. The manufacturing operation was renamed as ''Volvo Construction Equipment Korea'' and Samsung maintained a minority 13% stake and received a payment from Volvo in exchange of keeping the "Samsung" trademark for a further three years. The

forklift A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th c ...

production business was sold to

Clark Material Handling Company Clark Material Handling Company (CMHC), also known as CLARK or CLARK the Forklift, is an American manufacturer of forklift trucks based in Dallas, Texas. The company has manufacturing facilities in Changwon, South Korea, Lexington, Kentucky, Q ...

, which had licensed the designs of those kind of vehicles to Samsung since 1986, after an OEM alliance established in 1984. The Asian financial crisis hit when Samsung Commercial Vehicles marketed the first products under its name. Samsung sold its carmaker ( Samsung Motors) to the French

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

, but, after negotiations with Renault's Renault VI subsidiary,

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

and Volvo, it decided to keep the company. One of the truck models produced, the Samsung SV110 with a 2.7-litre diesel engine and a 3.5-tonne GVW version, was sold at overseas markets, including Italy, Turkey and Poland. Versions of the SV110 were also sold in Japan, and they were exported up to 26 countries. In April 2000, the company and SsangYong Motor signed an agreement to jointly sell the truck. Another model, the heavier SM510, was sold in the United Kingdom by 1999. Between 1997 and 1999, the company's share in a declining South Korean commercial vehicle market was below 4%, which made it harder to achieve economies of scale. It had a net money loss during those years, and continued in operation through the support of Samsung's financial affiliates. In October 2000, truck production at the company's single assembling facility in Daegu was stopped because of an alleged problem to get new engines from Nissan, although plans for restarting production by May 2001 were announced. In early November 2000, Samsung announced it was selling Samsung Commercial Vehicles' assets to cover its debts and relocating its employees, following pressure from creditor banks. At the end of the year, Samsung Commercial Vehicles declared bankruptcy. All its assets were sold and its personnel was transferred to other subsidiaries of the Samsung Group. The closing of Samsung Commercial Vehicles, along with

Daewoo Motors Daewoo Motors ( ) was a South Korean Automotive industry, automotive company established in 1937 as "National Motors". The company changed its name several times until 1982 when it became "Daewoo Motors" following its acquisition by the Daewoo, ...

bankruptcy, severely affected the already weakened Daegu economy, increasing the opposition against the national government and the big companies. Samsung Commercial Vehicles' failure generated suspicion and accusations of fraud and destruction of evidence for certain managers. The company's liquidation ended in 2002. Flickr 8415331992 7f9bdace02 o

Branding

At first, Samsung Commercial Vehicles models had the word Samsung and the model designation on the front. In 1998, they adopted the corporate identity of sister company Samsung Motors, using the same marque badge on a redesigned

grille Grill or grille may refer to: Food * Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function * Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants, ...

Models

*SV110(Yamouzine) (revised Nissan Atlas F23) *SM510 (revised Nissan Diesel Big Thumb, rebadged as SV710 in 1998) *SM530 (revised Nissan Diesel Big Thumb, rebadged as SV730 in 1998)

References

{{Bus manufacturing companies of Asia Former Samsung subsidiaries Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1996 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of South Korea Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2000

History

Branding

Models

See also

References