About Nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. which formerly marketed vehicles under the Datsun
brand name, is a Japanese automobile manufacturer. The company's main
offices are located in the Ginza area of Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Nissan
plans to move their headquarters to Yokohama, Kanagawa by 2010; the
headquarters started construction in 2007.
The company marketed vehicles under the Nissan and Datsun brand names
until 1983, when the Datsun brand name was dropped. Nissan used to be
Japan's second largest car company after Toyota, but it has dropped to
third in size after Honda. Due to financial problems throughout the
1990s, the French manufacturer Renault bought a controlling share in the
company and installed Carlos Ghosn as president, the first non-Japanese
person to run a Japanese car company (Mazda was run by an American, Mark
Fields and by Briton Lewis Booth and Mitsubishi was run by a German,
Rolf Eckrodt).
Under Ghosn's "Nissan Revival Plan" (NRP), Nissan has rebounded in what
many leading economists consider to be one of the most spectacular
corporate turnarounds in history, catapulting Nissan to record profits
and a dramatic revitalization of both its Nissan and Infiniti model
line-ups. In 2001, the company initiated Nissan 180, capitalizing on the
success of the NRP. Ghosn has since been idolized as a national hero in
Japan as a symbol of the strength of the currently ailing Japanese
economy, with Ghosn and the Nissan revival story prominently featured in
Japanese manga and popular culture. His achievements in revitalizing the
Japanese company have been noted by Emperor Akihito, who awarded him the
Japan Medal with Blue Ribbon in 2004.
Nissan is also noted for being one of the world's leading manufacturers
of automobile engines, with its VG and VQ V6 engines appearing on
"Ward's 10 Best Engines" for 12 straight years - every year since the
award's inception.
Nissan has produced an extensive range of mainstream cars and trucks,
initially for domestic consumption but exported around the world since
the 1950s. There was a major strike in 1953.
It also produced several memorable sports cars, including the Z-car, an
affordable sports car originally introduced in 1969; and the Skyline
GT-R, a powerful all-wheel-drive sports coupe.
Unfortunately, Nissan has been reluctant to sell most Skylines outside
of Japan. However, used imports of the sportier GTS and GT-R coupes have
become popular in other right-hand-drive countries like Australia.
In 1985, Nissan created a tuning division, NISMO, for competition and
performance development of such cars.
Nissan sells its luxury models in North America under the Infiniti
brand.
Nissan also sells a small range of keicars, mainly as a joint venture
with other Japanese manufacturers like Suzuki or Mitsubishi. Nissan does
not develop these cars.