Nissan. A brand that has made a name for itself
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., a Japanese giant, is one of the world’s largest carmakers. It produces cars, commercial vehicles, and trucks under the Nissan brand. To date, more than 5 million cars of this brand have been sold worldwide. But there are also Infiniti and Datsun! The total sales of all the cars exceeded 25 million long ago. Nissan is the second best-selling brand in Japan (as of 2018-2019).
In addition to cars, the company successfully produces trucks, sports boats, and communication satellites. It has achieved good results in robotics as well. Nissan also develops and manufactures rocket engines, rocket launchers, ship, and boat engines, and also builds ships. It is engaged in telecom, financial services, and textile engineering. The company in 8th in the world ranking of carmakers and second (after Toyota) among Japanese manufacturers. Nissan employs more than 170,000 people, its cars are sold by more than 7,000 dealers in 188 countries. Nissan has plants in Japan, China, the USA, the UK, India, Spain, Russia, and other countries.* Nissan Motor owns 34% of the shares of Mitsubishi Motors, another Japanese car manufacturer, and 15% of Renault, the French car company. In its turn, Nissan itself is 44.4% owned by Renault.* *As of 2018-2019
Rising Nissan
The timeline of the Nissan brand began in 1914 with the company that produced DAT car, named so by the first letters of the names of its creators: Den, Aoyama, and Takeuchi. In Japanese, this word means ‘alive’ or ‘agile’. But it is only one of the ‘parents’ of Nissan. The other parent was the company that produced three-wheeled cars, designed by the American engineer William Gorham. It also imported from the US spare parts for the production of cars and at that time was one of the most advanced in the automotive industry. In 1926, these two companies merged to make one - Dat Jidosha Seizo Co, which, in turn, called for another company - Tobata Imono. In 1933, they all merged with another manufacturer - Nihon Sanyo. The final result of all these mergers, Jidosha Seizo Co., Ltd. with President Yoshisuke Aikawa was born.
That’s how the merger of several “parent” companies led to the birth of Nihon Sanyo. The official date of birth of Nissan Motor is December 26, 1933. But the company received its name Nissan only on June 1, 1934, by the first letters of “Nihon Sangyo” - “Japanese industry”.
The old Nissan logo was very symbolic! The red circle as a symbol of the rising sun, meaning sincerity. And the blue stripe as a symbol of the sky, meaning the desire for success. Therefore, the company motto is: ‘Sincerity brings success!’ The modern logo looks somewhat simpler – it is the name of the brand inside the circle, which means the rising sun.
Yes, Nissan has been producing its models under the Datsun brand too long. Just occasionally, the Nissan prefix appeared in the name of some models from time to time. And after the war, Nissan started producing and selling its cars under the Austin brand, owned by the British company Austin Motor Company, for 7 years. However, an agreement with the British gave Nissan the right to use their patents. And the Japanese have successfully applied the extracted technology in the production of their own engines.
The first car of the newborn company became literally ‘son’ of the very first, ‘DAT’ - model Datson which name is translated from Japanese as ‘son of DAT’. But later this model was renamed into Datsun. ‘Sun’ is the sun, the national symbol of Japan. By the way, the cars under the Datsun brand were produced until 1983, then there was a long break, and since 2013 production of Datsun cars resumed.
In 1951, the production of 4WD Nissan Patrol off-road car has started to go on to our day. It was equipped with a powerful six-cylinder engine, reinforced frame, and uncut axles. This principle is used nowadays too! Patrol is famous for its off-road qualities and numerous victories in rally-raids. Third generation Patrol cars were used by the UN mission. Perhaps it was the first Nissan car to be recognized under this name.
Only since 1983, all cars of the company began to be produced under the Nissan brand. Yes, Infiniti is Nissan as well!
And after Nissan Motor Corporation was established in 1961 as a separate company, it became the first in exports of its cars to the US. Nissan/Datsun 240Z sports car, created for US sales, became the bestseller in its class and made a start of the worldwide Nissan popularity. As a result, in the late 60s, Nissan took second place after Toyota among the Japanese carmakers. This way, Datsun was already recognizable all over the world while few people knew Nissan itself… Only since 1983, all cars of the company began to be produced under the Nissan brand.
Nearly at the same time, Nissan with its worldwide ambitions created a secret group called Horizon Task Force in order to start production of high-quality cars of premium class, mainly for the US market. But not under the Nissan brand, being associated with simple and cheap cars but under a completely new brand! That’s how Infiniti appeared. The logo for this new brand has been an oval with a triangle inside, meaning the infinite road. But this is quite a different story :)
In 1990, Nissan Primera was designed for the European market and eventually gave rise to a whole family of cars with different bodywork: sedan, wagon car, and liftback. In 1992, the model Micra (March) is presented, which in 1993 became the car of the year in both Europe and Japan and won the RJC New Car of the Year award in the latter. The same 1993 was the year when the production of the 4WD model Terrano II for the European market was started. In 1995, the production of Nissan Almera began, and in 2006 Nissan Qashqai was produced.
Yes, Nissan made itself well-known! Now we all know the name of this legendary brand. Nissan Motor has experienced both ups and downs. But in the last few years, it becomes much more efficient again. The new model of the company, Nissan Altima, with the V-Motion style of the forepart, is recognized as the car of the year in North America. And there is also a new model Moco that enabled Nissan to enter the market of compact cars.
The company in 8th in the world ranking of carmakers and second (after Toyota) among Japanese manufacturers. Nissan employs more than 170,000 people, its cars are sold by more than 7,000 dealers in 188 countries.*
In 2019, Nissan introduced a new model of car sales - City Hub, combining shopping and e-commerce with new technologies. Well… Hopefully, the new principle of buying Nissan cars will make the process simple, easy, and fun! Thus, Nissan Motor cars will be available to everyone.
