Nissan History: Where It All Started
The company we know as Nissan today has had a long and varied history. The third largest automotive manufacturer in Japan and the operator of the Infiniti brand has actually — in some capacity or another — been around since 1914. Here’s how it all began.
In 1914, Kwaishinsha Motorcar Works in Tokyo released a new car called the DAT. DAT was an acronym of the first letters of the last names of the car’s creators: Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Aoyama, and Meitaro Takeuchi. In 1925, Kwaishinsha changed its name to DAT Motorcar Company — the company that would go on to be called the Nissan Motor Company.
In 1931, the company released a new, smaller version of the DAT, called the Datson — “son of DAT”. After a couple of years and a few name changes and acquisitions, the company changed the name to “Datsun” since “son” means “loss” in Japanese.
The word “Nissan” was originally used as an acronym. In 1928, the owners of the automaker founded a holding company called Nippon Sangyo. Nissan was an abbreviation of the two names used on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Several mergers later, what we know today as Nissan was born in 1934.
At Nissan’s inception, it didn’t just make cars. They built engines for the Japanese military, airplanes, trucks — the whole works. After Japan captured some Chinese land, the company moved its main plant to China. In fact, the company made such a variety of products that it was briefly known as Nissan Heavy Industries. It wasn’t until much later that Nissan was known for making the best compact cars in the world.
If a 1930s Datsun isn’t the car for you, stop by Classic Nissan to take a new Nissan car for a test drive or visit the website for information on specials and new inventory.
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[...] (This post is the second in a two part series of posts on the history of Nissan cars. To read this series from the beginning, check out Nissan Cars: Where It All Began.) [...]