Datson to Datsun to Nissan

Datson to Datsun to Nissan

A quick look at the History of Nissan's beginning

Datsun,  the name was created in 1931 by the DAT Motorcar Company. So for a new car model, spelling it as "Datson" to indicate its smaller size (son), when compared to the existing, larger DAT car. Later, in 1933 after Nissan Motor Company took control of DAT Motorcar Company,  (Nissan being the higher end of Datsun at the time), that SON of DatSON was changed to "SUN", because "son" also means "loss" in Japanese. You don't want Looser depicted on your cars or trucks! Also this change would then honour the sun depicted in their national flag. Nissan would then go on to fizzle out the Datsun brand in March 1986. The Datsun name is most famous for the sports cars referred to as the Fairlady roadsters and later the Fairlady 240Z coupes.

A little more on the beginning of the Datsun, was an automobile named the (DAT car). It was built way back in 1914, by the Kaishinsha Motorcar Works.  The use of the Datsun name in the American market derives from the name Nissan used for its Production cars. In fact, the cars produced by Nissan already used the Datsun brand name, a successful brand in Japan since 1932, long before World War II. Katayama wanted to build and sell passenger cars to people, not to the military. For him it was the name "Datsun" that survived the war with its purity intact, not "Nissan". Nissan had a big hand in World War II where as Datsun did Not. This led Katayama to have problems with corporate management.

Katayama was made Vice President of the Nissan North American company in 1960, he was involved in decision making with both North American and Japans Nissan Motor Company. From 1965 to 1975, the cars were sold as Datsuns with the goal of slowly changing the name to the Now Nissan.

The decision to change the name Datsun to Nissan in the U.S. was announced in the fall of 1981. The thought was that the name change would help the pursuit of a global strategy. A single name worldwide would increase the possibility that advertising campaigns, brochures, and promotional materials could be used across countries and simplify product design and manufacturing. Further, potential buyers would be exposed to the name and product when traveling to other countries.

However the Nissan automobile market got here, it's a good thing. Their cars, truck and suv's are vehicles that are in it for the long haul. I see many upon many older Datsuns and Nissan's running strong today.

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