is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan and Infiniti brands, and formerly the Datsun brand, with in-house performance tuning products (including cars) under the Nismo and Autech brands. The company can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century with the Nissan zaibatsu, or Nissan Group.
Since 1999, Nissan has been part of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance (with Mitsubishi joining in 2016), a partnership between Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors of Japan, with Renault of France. , Renault holds a 15% voting stake in Nissan, while Nissan holds another 15% stake in Renault. Since October 2016, Nissan held a 34% controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors. In November 2024, Nissan reduced its stake in Mitsubishi Motors from 34% to 24%.
In 2017, Nissan was the sixth largest automaker in the world, after Toyota, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, General Motors, and Ford. With a revenue of $78 billion in 2022, Nissan was the ninth largest automobile maker in the world. After making a loss in the 2024/2025 financial year, new CEO Ivan Espinosa announced that Nissan will by 2027 close seven factories with the loss of 20,000 jobs, and reduce car models from 56 to 45 to focus investment on more profitable models.
History
Beginnings of Datsun brand name from 1914
Masujiro Hashimoto () founded the on 1 July 1911 in Azabu-Hiroo district of Tokyo. In 1914, the company produced its first car, called the DAT.
The new car's model name was an acronym of the company's investors' surnames:
It was renamed to Kaishinsha Motorcar Co., Ltd. in 1918, and again to DAT Jidosha & Co., Ltd. (DAT Motorcar Co.) in 1925. DAT Motors built trucks in addition to the DAT and Datsun passenger cars. The vast majority of its output were trucks, due to an almost non-existent consumer market for passenger cars at the time, and disaster recovery efforts as a result of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were produced for the military market. At the same time, Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd. (jitsuyo means practical use or utility) produced small trucks using parts, and materials imported from the United States.
Commercial operations were placed on hold during Japan's participation in World War I, and the company contributed to the war effort.
In 1926, the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based a.k.a. Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo (established 1919 as a Kubota subsidiary) to become in Osaka until 1932. From 1923 to 1925, the company produced light cars and trucks under the name of Lila.The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars 1885 to the Present Edited by G. N. Georgano; 1968; E. P. Dutton and Company; New York, NY In 1929, DAT Automobile Manufacturing Inc. merged with a separated part of the manufacturing business of IHI Corporation to become Automobile Industries Co., Ltd.
In 1931, DAT came out with a new smaller car, called the Datsun Type 11, the first "Datson", meaning "Son of DAT". Later in 1933, after Nissan Group zaibatsu took control of DAT Motors, the last syllable of Datson was changed to "sun", because "son" also means "loss" in Japanese, hence the name .Cusumano page 33
In 1933, the company name was Nipponized to and was moved to Yokohama.
Nissan name debut In 1928, Yoshisuke Aikawa (nickname: Gisuke/Guisuke Ayukawa) founded the holding company Nihon Sangyo (日本産業 Japan Industries or Nihon Industries). The name 'Nissan' originated during the 1930s as an abbreviationCusumano pp 28 used on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for Nihon Sangyo. This company was Nissan "Zaibatsu" which included Tobata Casting and Hitachi. At this time Nissan controlled foundries and auto parts businesses, but Aikawa did not enter automobile manufacturing until 1933.Cusumano pp 28, 30, 33
The zaibatsu eventually grew to include 74 firms and became the fourth-largest in Japan during World War II.Cusumano pp 28, 30 In 1931, DAT Jidosha Seizo became affiliated with Tobata Casting and was merged into Tobata Casting in 1933. As Tobata Casting was a Nissan company, this was the beginning of Nissan's automobile manufacturing.Cusumano pp 30.
Nissan Motor In 1934, Aikawa separated the expanded automobile parts division of Tobata Casting and incorporated it as a new subsidiary, which he named . The shareholders of the new company; however, were not enthusiastic about the prospects of the automobile in Japan, so Aikawa bought out all the Tobata Casting shareholders (using capital from Nihon Industries) in June 1934. At this time, Nissan Motor effectively became owned by Nihon Sangyo and Hitachi.Cusumano, page 37
In 1935, the construction of its Yokohama plant was completed. 44 Datsuns were shipped to Asia, Central and South America. In 1935, the first car manufactured by an integrated assembly system rolled off the line at the Yokohama plant. Nissan built trucks, airplanes, and engines for the Imperial Japanese Army. In November 1937 Nissan moved its headquarters to Xinjing, the capital of Manchukuo. In December the company changed its name to Manchuria Heavy Industries Developing Co (MHID).
In 1940, the first knockdown kits were shipped to Dowa Jidosha Kogyo (Dowa Automobile), one of MHID's companies, for assembly. In 1944, the head office was moved to Nihonbashi, Tokyo, and the company name was changed to Nissan Heavy Industries, Ltd., which the company kept through 1949.
American market and expansion
DAT had inherited Kubota's chief designer, American engineer William R. Gorham. This, along with Aikawa's 1908 visit to Detroit, was to greatly affect Nissan's future. Although it had always been Aikawa's intention to use cutting-edge auto making technology from America, it was Gorham that carried out the plan. Most of the machinery and processes originally came from the United States. When Nissan started to assemble larger vehicles under the "Nissan" brand in 1937, much of the design plans and plant facilities were supplied by the Graham-Paige Company. Nissan also had a Graham license under which passenger cars, buses, and trucks were made.
In his 1986 book The Reckoning, David Halberstam states "In terms of technology, Gorham was the founder of the Nissan Motor Company" and that "young Nissan engineers who had never met him spoke of him as a god and could describe in detail his years at the company and his many inventions."
Austin Motor Company relations (1937–1960s)
From 1934, Datsun began to build Austin 7s under license. This operation became the greatest success of Austin's overseas licensing of its Seven and marked the beginning of Datsun's international success.
In 1952, Nissan entered into a legal agreement with Austin,Cususmano for Nissan to assemble 2,000 Austins from imported partially assembled sets and sell them in Japan under the Austin trademark. The agreement called for Nissan to make all Austin parts locally within three years, a goal Nissan met. Nissan produced and marketed Austins for seven years. The agreement also gave Nissan the rights to use Austin patents, which Nissan used in developing its own engines for its Datsun line of cars. In 1953, British-built Austins were assembled and sold, but by 1955, the Austin A50 – completely built by Nissan and featuring a new 1489 cc engine — was on the market in Japan. Nissan produced 20,855 Austins from 1953 to 1959.Cusumano, pp 90–92
Nissan leveraged the Austin patents to further develop its own modern engine designs beyond what Austin's A- and B-family designs offered. The apex of the Austin-derived engines was the new design A series engine in 1966. In 1967, Nissan introduced its new highly advanced four-cylinder overhead cam (OHC) Nissan L engine, which while similar to Mercedes-Benz OHC designs was a totally new engine designed by Nissan. This engine powered the new Datsun 510, which gained Nissan respect in the worldwide sedan market. Then, in 1969, Nissan introduced the Datsun 240Z sports car which used a six-cylinder variation of the L series engine, developed under Nissan Machinery (Nissan Koki Co., Ltd. ) in 1964, a former remnant of another auto manufacturer Kurogane. The 240Z was an immediate sensation and lifted Nissan to world-class status in the automobile market.
During the Korean War, Nissan was a major vehicle producer for the US Army. After the Korean War ended, significant levels of anti-communist sentiment existed in Japan. The union that organized Nissan's workforce was strong and militant. Nissan was in financial difficulties, and when wage negotiations came, the company took a hard line. Workers were locked out, and several hundred were fired. The Japanese government and the US occupation forces arrested several union leaders. The union ran out of strike funds and was defeated. A new labor union was formed, with Shioji Ichiro one of its leaders. Ichiro had studied at Harvard University on a US government scholarship. He advanced an idea to trade wage cuts against saving 2,000 jobs. Ichiro's idea was made part of a new union contract that prioritized productivity. Between 1955 and 1973, Nissan "expanded rapidly on the basis of technical advances supported – and often suggested – by the union." Ichiro became president of the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions and "the most influential figure in the right wing of the Japanese labor movement."
Merger with Prince Motor Company
In 1966, Nissan merged with the Prince Motor Company, bringing more upmarket cars, including the Skyline and Gloria, into its selection. The Prince name was eventually abandoned, and successive Skylines and Glorias bore the Nissan name. Prince also possessed the necessary expertise in front wheel drive that Nissan lacked - this gave way to the first generation Cherry/100A model in 1971. "Prince" was used at the Japanese Nissan dealership "Nissan Prince Shop" until 1999, when "Nissan Red Stage" replaced it. Nissan Red Stage itself has been replaced as of 2007. The Skyline lives on as the G Series of Infiniti.
To capitalize on the renewed investment during 1964 Summer Olympics, Nissan established the gallery on the second and third floors of the San-ai building, located in Ginza, Tokyo. To attract visitors, Nissan started using beautiful female showroom attendants where Nissan held a competition to choose five candidates as the first class of Nissan Miss Fairladys, modeled after "Datsun Demonstrators" from the 1930s who introduced cars. The Fairlady name was used as a link to the popular Broadway play My Fair Lady of the era. Miss Fairladys became the marketers of the Datsun Fairlady 1500.
In April 2008, 14 more Miss Fairlady candidates were added, for a total of 45 Nissan Miss Fairlady pageants (22 in Ginza, 8 in Sapporo, 7 in Nagoya, 7 in Fukuoka).
In April 2012, 7 more Miss Fairlady candidates were added, for a total of 48 Nissan Miss Fairlady pageants (26 in Ginza, 8 in Sapporo, 7 in Nagoya, 7 in Fukuoka).
In April 2013, 6 more Miss Fairlady candidates were added to Ginza showroom, for a total of 27 48th Ginza Nissan Miss Fairlady pageants.
Expansion into foreign markets