Renault Samsung Motors Co. said Monday it aims to sell about 40,000 in overseas markets by the end of this year as it has begun to ship its flagship SUV to Europe.

Renault Samsung said it has started the shipment of the QM6 SUVs (sold as Renault Koleos outside of South Korea) initially to western Europe, the company said in a statement. 

The company has initially shipped a combined 1,793 QM6s to 12 European countries, such as Austria, Germany and Italy. It plans to ship a total of 30,000 units of the 2-liter, diesel-powered vehicles to Europe by the end of this year, a company spokesman said by phone. 

In total, the carmaker expects to sell vehicles in 80 overseas markets by year's end, he said.

"The QM6 SUV will be targeting European customers who prefer large-size diesel SUVs, and its main rival will be Volkswagen's Tiguan SUV," the spokesman said.

The QM6 was launched in September in the domestic market and a total of 19,000 units have been sold here by February.

Renault Samsung is responsible for producing most of the QM6 vehicles from its local plant for exports to global markets except for China. In Asia's fastest growing economy, Dongfeng Renault manufactures the localized version of the same SUV model to meet local demand, according to the company.

Renault Samsung has a plant in Busan, 453 kilometers south of Seoul. It has a production capacity of 270,000 units under the double-shift system.

For all of 2016, it sold 257,345 autos, up 12 percent from 229,081 a year earlier on robust demand for the SM6 upper midsize sedan and the QM6 SUV, the company said.

The company's current lineup also includes the SM7 large-size sedan, the SM5 midsize sedan, the SM3 compact, the pure-electric SM3 Z.E. sedan and the QM3 compact SUV.

French automaker Renault SA. owns 80 percent of Renault Samsung. (Yonhap)