Datsun Automotive manufacturer history

Yokohama, Japan from 1933 on.

 Datsun is Japan's oldest existing car manufacturer . The Datsun brand name was originally introduced as Datsonin 1931 by the DAT Motorcar Company for a new passenger car model. This was smaller than the models of the car series DAT 41 , therefore, the name referred to the son of DAT . However, changed after a year, the last syllable of the name on "sun" (English for "sun"), as son in the Japanese language means "loss", the sun, however, is also part of the Japanese flag . That's how the name Datsun came to be .

1934 took over Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. control of DAT Motorcar Co. While Nissan cars at first only in the upper class were represented and DAT 41 replaced the Datsun cars were among incorporated as a mass Mobile. The export of vehicles from the Nissan Group outside of Asia began in the 1950s. The cars and commercial vehiclesmarketed in the Japanese market as Nissan were also marketed for export as Datsun. One of the main reasons, along with lower advertising costs, was that Nissan produced many military products during the Second World War, and therefore the brand name, especially in the United States, was negative.

In 1974 it was decided to change the strategy and phase out the Datsun brand. This was justified by the fact that the change of the name by a future global strategy increases the value of the group. From 1984, the name Datsun disappeared in Europe and North America , in Asia gradually until March 1986. The only exception was the Datsun pick-up , which was further marketed in Asia and Africa as Datsun. That in Europe as D22known model was the last model for the time being, which was offered as Datsun. It was introduced in 2001 by Nissan in Japan. The name Datsun was limited only to a specific model of the series. This was also dropped in October 2002.

On March 20, 2012, it was announced that Nissan wanted to revive the brand for use in emerging markets.  The first new Datsun model is the Datsun Go , for which images, technical details and pricing were released on 15 July 2013.

History 

Before the start of Datsun built Kaishinsha Jidosha Kojo ( 快進社自働車工場 , Eng. Kaishinsha Motorcar Works Tokyo's Azabu-Hiroo), 1914, a car named DAT . The name of the new car was an abbreviation of the last name of the three company partners:

• Kenjirō D en ( 田 健 次郎 , Den Kenjiro )
• ROKURO A oyama ( 青山禄朗 , Aoyama ROKURO )
• Meitarō T akeuchi ( 竹 内 明 太郎 , Takeuchi Meitaro ).

Kenjirō Den, Rokurō Aoyama and Meitarō Takeuchi were friends and financiers of Masujirō Hashimoto, one of the founders of the Japanese auto industry. This founded in 1911 Kaishinsha Jidōsha Kōjō . 1918, this was reorganized as a joint stock company KK Kaishinsha ( 株式会社 快 進 社 , Kabushiki kaisha Kaishinsha ) and 1925 to the limited partnership GK DAT Jidō Shōkai ( 合資 会 社 ッ 商会 商会 , Goshi-gaisha Datto ~ , English DAT Motorcar Co. ), renamed and they also designed and produced trucksin addition to the DAT passenger cars. At the same time specialized from 1918 on the production of commercial vehicles, since the demand for cars at that time declined. Kaishinsha mounted the first DAT truck for the military sector.

Diminishing demand from the military in the 1920s forced DAT Jidō Shōkai to consider merging with other automakers. In 1926, the Tokyo-based DAT Jidō Shōkai was based in Osaka Jitsuyō Jidōsha Seizō KK (English Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd. or Jitsuyo Motors , founded in 1919 as a subsidiary of Kubota ) to DAT Jidōsha Seizō KK ( ダ ッ ト 自動 車 製造 株式会社 , DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. ), based in Osaka. Jitsuyō Jidōsha began in 1920 with the production of a three-wheeled vehicle with a closed cabin, developed byWilliam R. Gorham , who followed a four-wheeled version the following year. From 1923 to 1925 Jitsuyō Jidōsha also produced cars and trucks under the name Lila . 

DAT Jidōsha Seizō sold under the name DAT since 1914 cars from the middle class .1930, the Japanese government issued a ministerial decree, which allowed to drive cars with engines up to 500 cc without a license . This began DAT Jidosha Seizo the development of a passenger car line with 495-cc engine to sell these cars in the new market segment under the project name "Son of DAT", from which eventually the name Datson was.

The first prototype of the Datson was completed in the summer of 1930; The production car was called Datson 10 . After a hurricane damaged the factory, repairs had to be made; at the same time the model was revised. The name has now been changed in Datsun because of the above reasons and so in 1931 the Datsun 11 started as the first Datsun. In 1931, the automotive supplier Tobata Casting , which previously also supplied DAT, took over DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. 1928, the corporate holding Nihon Sangyo was created, whose shares on the Japanese stock exchange under the symbol Ni-Sanwere led. Owner was Yoshisuke Aikawa , who also owned the company Tobata Casting.

For 1933, the government had revised the regulation and increased the limit to 750 cc. This also used DAT and upgraded the model to Datsun 12 . According to a further revision to the Datsun 13 now also a small truck was prepared from the series, the Datsun truck .

In 1933, Tobata Casting and Nihon Sangyo merged, and on December 26, the company was renamed Jidosha Seizo Co., Ltd. , which can be roughly translated as 'automaker', re-established with a capital of 10 million yen . Datsun should produce mass-produced vehicles in the future, while the higher-priced segment should be served under a new brand name. In March 1933, Tobata Casting acquired a large site in Yokohama , on which a car factory was to be built. It was necessary for the planned work in the United StatesRecruit engineers and procure equipment and tools for manufacturing. This task was entrusted to American engineer William R. Gorham , who had been working in Japan since 1921 and who lived in Japan. During his trip, Gorham was able to acquire almost new, abandoned production facilities of the US automaker Graham-Paige .In May 1934, the factory in Yokohama was finally completed.After Ni-San became the majority shareholder in June 1934 during a shareholders' meeting, Datsun's parent company was renamed Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. renamed and Aikawa was named the first company president.

Datsun History Before and During World War II 

In 1935, the company built a real production line in Yokohama, modeled on the Ford Motor Company , and now produces the Datsun 14 . Six models of this early Datsun were exported to New Zealand in 1936 , a market that Datsun only officially supplied in May 1962. In 1937, in addition to the Datsun 16 and Datsun Truck, the Nissan 80 truck for the Imperial Japanese Army and the first Nissan 70 Nissan car were produced at the Yokohama plant. Due to the outbreak of the Second Japanese-Chinese War , the car production was limited and mainly trucks produced.

The 1938 Datsun 17 was due to the scarcity of raw materials during the war already equipped much Spartan, and the end of 1938, the production was completely discontinued. The Nissan 90 based on the Nissan 80 truck was added to the production, while the Nissan 70, which was primarily supplied to the military, was discontinued in 1943. Then came in 1960 with the Nissan Cedric again a car from Nissan on the market. 1944 also ended the production of the Datsun Truck and only the Nissan 80 and 90 were still produced for the army.

Datsun history after the Second World War

When the Pacific War ended, Datsun initially produced only trucks for the occupation forces. In 1946, production of the Datsun 1121 was started, based on the latest Datsun truck, derived from the Datsun 17. The Datsun 17 was also the basis for Datsun's first postwar model, the Datsun DA , in 1947, the car production was resumed. As early as 1948, the Datsun DA was replaced by the revised model Datsun DS . In 1952, the Datsun DC-3 came into the program, thus establishing Datsun's history as a sports car manufacturer . All previous Datsun models were similar to the contemporary models of the Austin Motor Company .

In 1955, after the occupation-controlled Japanese factories returned to Japanese control, Nissan made contact with Austin and entered into a cooperation agreement with Austin. This authorized the company to produce the Austin A40 as Nissan A40 and the Austin A50 Cambridge by means of badge engineering as Nissan A50 . In addition, all components could be used for own developments. As a result, Datsun 110 developed by Datsun on Austin components appeared in 1955 and a Datsun pickup derived from it . In 1957, this series was the Datsun 210 introduced with derived pick-up, which was the founder of the Datsun Bluebird series. In 1958, the Datsun Cablight came on the market, a pickup truck that was located below the Nissan trucks and buses, but added to the offer of Datsun pick-up in payload and body styles. He was later replaced by the Datsun Cabstar , also available in Europe .

1959 began the production of the Datsun Fairlady sports car / roadster series, which was also among the first export models and cheaper than similar models of MGand Triumph . This was replaced in 1968 by the Datsun Z series. This affordable sports car was very profitable for Datsun and became the best-selling sports car in the world at the time.  He had the engine and chassis components of the Bluebird. 

On the Fairlady followed in 1964, the Datsun Coupe 1500 based on the Fairlady; he became known in the evolution of the model in export as Datsun 200SX . In 1966 came in the compact car segment of the Datsun Sunny , with rear-wheel drive and rather in small car size , as a competitor of the Toyota Corolla on the market. The Japanese demand for vehicles in so-called one-box design, with narrow external dimensions and a lot of cargo space on a small area, Datsun served from 1969 with the Datsun Sunny Cab , which was equipped with components of both the Sunny and the Bluebird. 10 years later this was replaced by the Datsun C20, which is also in Europe asDatsun Vanette became known.

In 1970, the first vehicle from the Nissan group with front-wheel drive presented, the Datsun Cherry , who initially took over the function of the now larger Datsun Sunny. Later, like the Sunny, he belonged to the compact class. The Datsun Violet first appeared in 1973 and was derived from the Bluebird, but in design, in terms of performance and features positioned higher. In export, he was known in later construction as Datsun Stanza and replaced by this. Apart from the model series already mentioned, most of the Datsun models that became known in the export were "only" Datsun-marketed Nissan models, came in 1981 with the Datsun PrairieAgain a true innovation from Datsun on the market. The high-roof combination based on the Datsun Stanza was the first compact van .

The last model developed by Datsun was the Datsun Micra . The small car replaced the upgraded in the compact class Datsun Cherry and was also the first car model of the Nissan Group, which was built from the beginning for Europe, initially at Nissan Motor Ibérica . The Datsun 720 pickup was largely the last model to be marketed as Datsun in export. Only in South Africa and in the home market, its successor Nissan Pick-up D21 was marketed until 1997 as Datsun. The successor of this series, the Nissan pickup D22Finally, from 2001 to 2002, there was again a Datsun pick-up in a certain model variant on the home market, but this meant that the history of the Datsun brand was over for the time being.

Before entering the American market in 1958 Nissan produced in addition to trucks and later as a Nissan Patrol known SUV only the upper class -Pkw Nissan 70 . The cars in the mass market were produced exclusively as Datsun. Therefore, it was natural for Nissan's executives to use this successful name in exports as well. In addition, the American market was aggravated by the fact that Nissan was associated by the Americans with the production of military products for the Japanese army. Nissan's involvement in Japan's defense industry had been significant.

1939 founded the founder and president of Nissan, Yoshisuke Aikawa, in Japanese-occupied Manchuria , the Manchurian Motor Company and was there to establish, among other military trucks. Aikawa was also a main partner of the Japanese colonial government of Manchukuo  and ultimately it was Nissan Heavy Industries as a major player in the Japanese war machine. After the end of the war, the Soviet Union seized all assets of Nissan Manchuria, while the occupation forces in Japan used more than half of the Yokohama plant for their needs.

General MacArthur had detained Aikawa for 21 months as a war criminal . After his release he was returned to a corporate or public office until 1951 and the return to Nissan, which resumed the car production of Datsun 1947 and 1949 in Nissan Motor Company Ltd. renamed, prohibited. Yutaka Katayama, who was commissioned to build Nissan operations in the US and was previously responsible for Nissan's non-automotive products in the US, supported the name Datsun.

Katayama had his own personal war experiences in mind when he was employed at the Nissan Manchuria Truck Plant in 1939 and witnessed the appalling conditions of Chinese forced labor . In 1945, just before the end of the war, Katayama was ordered to return to the Manchurian complex, but he refused. Katayama wished to build and sell cars for individuals rather than the military. For him, the name Datsun, unlike Nissan, was intact by the war in its purity; he ultimately prevailed with his opinion of Nissan.

Katayama he was in 1960, among other tasks, first vice president of the Nissan North America subsidiary and then from 1965 to 1975 president of the Nissan Motor Company USA. During this time he fended off any attempt to market the models sold in the US under the name Nissan. Only the little-selling Nissan Cedric , an upper class - sedan was available in the US as Nissan. As president of the important export market North America, he also had a significant influence on the development of future models. So he implored to improve the economy of the cars. Then, before Detroit ( Ford , GM andChrysler ), customers would see Nissan as an outstanding carmaker. If you work hard to sell your own cars, you will not be affected by what other manufacturers are doing. If you only look at what the other manufacturers are doing, you will definitely lose. 

The first officially exported product worldwide was the Datsun Bluebird in the 210/211 series with the 850 cc 25-horsepower Nissan D four-cylinder gasoline engine. On the American market began Datsun 1958 in California with the sale.  In 1959, the construction of a dealer network in the US  and the sale of the Datsun Bluebird 310 series . The export grew from 1960 production, and a new plant was built in Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture , south of Yokohama, and opened in 1962. In 1961, 200,000 Bluebirds were sold, of which 100,000 were exported. 

At the headquarters of the Nissan Group, it has long been considered to discontinue the Datsun brand. As Katsuji Kawamata, president of Nissan Motor Company Ltd, said in 1973, "resisting the use of the name Datsun is a long-guarded, official secret."  At the time, Kawamata was a veteran at Nissan and last year his presidency a powerful figure in the company with experience of more than two decades. His rise to leadership in 1957 was partly due to his handling of the 100-day Nissan strike, which began on May 25, 1953. During his term as President, Kawamata explained his regret that not all cars would carry the company name, such as Toyota, In retrospect, he wished they had already started to call all cars Nissan at the start of the export. But Datsun was a nickname for the cars when they started exporting. Under the new president's tenure in 1974, the decision was taken to renounce Datsun's worldwide purpose of strengthening the name of Nissan.

The decision to rename Datsun Nissan was announced in the autumn of 1981 and implemented from 1982. The rationale was that changing the name would mean exercising a global business empowerment strategy. Having a single name worldwide would allow the use of advertising campaigns, brochures, and promotional materials in each country, as well as product design and manufacturing simplification. Furthermore, potential buyers would know or get to know the name and the product when traveling to other countries.

However, industry observers speculated that the main motivation was that a name change would increase Nissan's US equities and bonds, as potential investors could now link stocks to products and market success. In addition, Nissan executives probably disturbed that Toyota and Honda in North America became well-known brands. 

In Europe and in the US appeared on the vehicles, dealers and in advertising from 1982, the name Nissan for the first time next to Datsun as Nissan Datsun. However, the introduction of the vehicles was still different. The already offered as Nissan in the home market models were introduced at model change only as Nissan, such as the 1982 Nissan Sunny B12. Datsun Micra , introduced in Europe in 1983, became Nissan Micra in 1984. Other models like the Datsun Prairie launched as Nissan Datsun.

Ultimately, the name change included in export markets as a period of three years from 1981 to 1984. The change cost Nissan in North America about 500 million US dollars , including the change of the emblems at 1,100 Datsun dealerships, which cost about 30 million dollars. Another $ 200 million was spent on advertising campaigns between 1982 and 1986, where the local marketing slogan "Datsun, Drive Us" was linked with the message "The name is Nissan". The latter message was also used for several years beyond 1986. Another $ 50 million cost stopped or never-used Datsun advertising.  Five years after the name change, Datsun was still more familiar with Nissan after questioning, despite the effort.

The only exception was the Datsun pick-up D21, which was further marketed in 1997 as Datsun in the home market and in South Africa . In Europe, this model was known as the Nissan Pickup D21. From the Nissan pickup D22 there was a model in Japan since 2001, which was offered as Datsun and was the last model of Datsun for the time being. However, it was limited to only one specific model of the series and was dropped again in October 2002. Since then, the Datsun brand has been history until its reintroduction in 2014. 

On March 20, 2012, Nissan announced a plan to reintroduce Datsun 31 years after the announcement of hiring as a low-price brand. The brand's reputation for reliability and longevity would help quickly capture market share in emerging markets. Datsun models are offered since 2014 in Indonesia , Russia , India and South Africa . In 2016, Kazakhstan , Belarus Nepal , Lebanon  and Sri Lanka were added as outlets.  The first new models were the Datsun Go, who debuted in India, and the Datsun GO + , which debuted in Indonesia. Initially, two models based on the Nissan Note , which is about to be replaced, were planned for the Russian market . With the majority takeover of Renault-Nissan in the Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ two Datsun models but have been realized on the basis of Lada models: the Datsun on-DO based on the Lada Granta , and the Datsun mi-DO based on the Lada Kalina . 

From 2016, up to 100,000 Datsun vehicles are to be produced annually in Russia.

On October 29, 2015, Datsun's boss, Vincent Cobee, announced that 100,000 vehicles had been sold worldwide the first year since the brand's reintroduction.  The mark of 200,000 models sold was reached in 2016.  Whether Datsun models will later be available in Western Europe, North America or Japan, is not yet known.