Datsun car models in Israel
Datsun models
Datsun. Son of the sun
DATSUN is a Japanese car manufacturer that produced cars of the same name from 1931 to 1986. Since 1934, it was part of one of the world’s largest car manufacturers, Nissan Motor. Production of cars under the Datsun brand was resumed in 2013 and terminated in 2020.
Story
Datsun and Nissan are inseparable components of one whole. The history of Datsun began in 1914 with the company that produced the DAT passenger car, the name of which comprises the first letters of the names of its creators: Den, Aoyama, and Takeuchi. In Japanese, this word means ‘alive’ or ‘agile’ (‘datto’ - ‘hare’). The first cars with 495 cc engines produced by the company were first named ‘Datson’, that is, ‘son of DAT’. The name was supposed to indicate the smaller size of the new cars compared to previous models. However, ‘SON’ is consonant with the Japanese word for ‘damage’, so this model was later renamed into ‘Datsun’. After all, the sun is the national symbol of Japan. This is how the ‘Sunny Dat’ appeared.
Another Japanese company produced three-wheeler cars designed by American engineer William Gorham. And in 1926, they merged to form Dat Jidosha Seizo Co, after which they invited Tobata Imono and Nihon Sanyo, the latter then became a leading investor. This is how, as a result of all these mergers, a single company was born, which in 1934 was renamed into Nissan, the name of which is formed by the first letters ‘Nihon Sangyo’ (‘Japanese industry’).
Although Nissan is the world’s largest automotive giant and the parent company that owns the Datsun car brand, all vehicles that were exported by Nissan from 1958 to 1986 were known under the Datsun name.
The Datsun cars were produced until 1983, after which there was a long pause. Since 2013, the production of Datsun cars was resumed. Since 1935, Datsun started using a real conveyor belt for the production of their cars, following the example of Henry Ford. The produced cars had a lot in common with the popular Austin Motor Cars models, such as the Austin 7.
In 1954, Nissan and Austin Motor concluded an agreement, authorizing the Japanese engineers to officially use Austin technologies, while Nissan plants started producing the Austin A40 and A50 Cambridge. In 1958, the Datsun vehicles started to be supplied to the United States, and in 1964, Nissan became the first Japanese company to enter the top ten automobile importers in the United States. In 1962, the manufacturer started supplying its cars to Europe. In 1959, Nissan’s first overseas assembly plant was opened on the island of Taiwan. In 1981, Nissan signed an agreement with Volkswagen to manufacture and sell passenger cars in Japan.
Phase-out of the Datsun brand
In the fall of 1981, it was announced that the Datsun brand name would not be used anymore in order to strengthen the Nissan brand. It was believed that the name change would help in the implementation of the company’s global strategy. However, many thought that the most important motive was the increased sales of Nissan shares in the US market. In addition, the Nissan brand was virtually absent in the United States, while the Toyota or Honda brand names were used by Americans in everyday life.
The renaming campaign lasted for three years, from 1982 to 1984. Even in the late 1970s, the Datsun cars started featuring small ‘Nissan’ and ‘Datsun by Nissan’ logos. Although, in some export markets, cars continued to be labeled with both Datsun and Nissan logos until 1986. The name change cost Nissan about $500 million. Another $200 million was spent on advertising campaigns replacing the slogan ‘Datsun, We Are Driven!’ by ‘The Name is Nissan’. Despite this, even five years after the end of the renaming program, the Datsun brand was still more familiar and recognizable than Nissan.
Rebirth and termination
In 2012, Nissan decided to revive the Datsun brand and began to produce affordable cars for countries with fast growing car markets. The official presentation of the new Datsun Go took place on July 15, 2013 in India. In the fall of the same year, the 7-seater Go+ minivan was unveiled in Indonesia. An open presentation of Russian models Datsun on-DO and Datsun mi-DO took place at the 2014 Moscow Autosalon. The last Datsun released so far is the Datsun redi-GO, available on the Indian market since April 14, 2016 (as of 2020).
The Datsun cars were officially sold in India, Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa, Lebanon, Malaysia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. But, due to cost cutbacks, Nissan announced plans to close the brand in 2020.
