In 2010
Nissan was the sixth-largest car manufacturer in the world after others such as
Toyota,
Volkswagen, Hyundai and
Ford.
Nissan cars were inititially produced under the name Datsun.
The
Nissan logo symbolises the sun which is also pictured on the Japanese national flag.
History of Nissan
The Nissan Sangyo Co. and Tobata Imono Co. started a joint venture in 1933 under the name Jidsosha-Seido Ltd. The company produced automotive vehicles under the name Datsun. The venture was rather short-lived as Sangyo bought the entire company a year later in 1934 and started making cars under the current label Nissan.
After a small setback during World War II in which Datsun was brought back, Nissan progressed considerably during the 1950s thanks to new technology developed during the war. This led to the issuing of the Nissan Patrol.
In 1964 the first Nissan with a diesel engine was marketed. In the same decade Nissan's expansion to the United States and Europe started. Especially the Nissan Sunny was very successful in the US thanks to its good fuel economy. Nissan enjoyed a great success abroad which can be illustrated by the sales figures of 1980 when the make exported 10 million examples.
This success was followed by the introduction of some new
Nissan models such as the Blue Bird, the Primera, Terrano, the
Nissan Micra and the Qashqai. Besides these models, Nissan created a luxury line called Infiniti.
In 1999 Nissan started a joint venture with the French Renault entailing that the latter acquired 43.4% Nissan shares and Nissan 15% Renault shares.
Nissan in sports
Nissan has performed well on the racing course between 1979 and 1981 with the Violet, Sunny and the Bluebird.
