It was one of the brands that supported the growth of Japanese automakers in the US and Europe.
The Datsun was the go-to vehicle for the average driver fed up with unreliable gas guzzlers in the 1970s because of its high fuel efficiency.
The Datsun has now been revived, more than 30 years after Nissan opted to discontinue the brand.
An updated model, geared toward first-time automobile buyers eager to climb the auto ownership ladder, was introduced in India on Monday.
Next year, India will begin selling the new 1.2-liter five-seat hatchback for less than 400,000 rupees ($6,670; 4,500). Additionally, Russia and Indonesia will sell it.
According to the brand’s new website, Datsun is the name of “the Riesers Young innovators who are ahead of the curve in fast-growing markets “.
The white and contemporary styling of the new car stands in stark contrast to the outmoded, square design of the past, when brown, orange, and red were the most popular colors.
In 1914, the first Dat-Car (Dat-GO in Japanese) was introduced. It literally means “Lightning quick” and was given the company’s three investors’ first names.
The Datsun brand was phased out in 1981, and Nissan took its place as the company’s flagship brand after selling 20 million automobiles in 190 nations.
But Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said, “The Datsun is back… Datsun will help people fulfill the goal of owning a car,” at the introduction of the new Datsun Go in New Delhi.
In This Article...
Does Nissan own Datsun?
Nissan owned the automaker Datsun (pronounce it as “dtsn” in the UK and “dtsn” in the US)[1]. The first batch of Datsun vehicles was created in 1931. Only Nissan-exported vehicles were designated as Datsun between 1958 and 1986. Nissan discontinued the Datsun brand in March 1986, but it was revived in June 2013 as the name for inexpensive cars made for developing nations. In 2019 and 2020, Nissan pondered phasing down the Datsun brand once more. [2] The ailing brand was finally discontinued in April 2022. [3]
Dat Motorcar Co. chose the name “Datson” for their new tiny car in 1931, indicating the new automobile’s smaller size in comparison to the bigger DAT vehicle currently in production. Since “son” also implies “loss” (son) in Japanese, the name “Datson” was altered to “Datsun” after Nissan assumed control of DAT in 1934. Additionally, the name Datsun: Dattosan was used to honor the sun (, Dattosan). [4] The 510, Fairlady roadsters, Z and ZX coups, and the Datsun brand are well known worldwide.
What distinguishes Datsun and Nissan from one another?
Nissan and Datsun primarily vary in that they cater to different markets. As a result, there is a vast difference in the reliability, cost, and construction quality. Each brand also has a distinct look that appeals to a variety of consumer groups.
The two brands differ in the following ways:
Origins
Nissan and Datsun were not always owned by the same business, despite the fact that they are presently.
Nihon Sangyo, which was eventually abbreviated to Nissan, was the name under which Nissan was founded in 1928. Kaishinsha Motor Car Works, the company that eventually became Datson and then Datsun after being acquired by Nissan, launched Datsun in 1911.
Nissan did not begin as an auto manufacturer. Instead, it began as a supplier of auto parts and didn’t start making automobiles until it bought Datsun in 1933. Automobile manufacturing has long been a part of Datsun.
Target Markets
Fewer Datsun vehicles were exported to the West than to nations like Russia, India, and Indonesia. Nissan increased its market share and exported its vehicles to nations like the United States and the United Kingdom.
To improve Nissan’s global brand, the Datsun name was dropped in 1984. Later, in 2013, it was brought back to life to serve low-income clients. Nissan is still making cars today that are aimed at more affluent consumers.
Why did Nissan replace Datsun as the company name?
By 1984, the Datsun brand had become well-known throughout the world, and Nissan thought it was time to start selling its vehicles under the name of the parent company. Datsun was eliminated. But it was a costly choice. It cost $30 million to change the signage at the 1,100 Datsun dealerships.
When did Nissan replace Datsun?
You likely know about Datsun if you loved or were a car enthusiast in the 1960s and 1970s. A new generation of shoppers from other countries will also soon be aware of it.
Doesn’t seem familiar. Datsun existed prior to Toyota, of course. Its first automobiles were put up for sale in Japan in 1931, five years ahead of Toyota.
Up until Nissan Motor Company, the owner of Datsun, controversially dropped the Datsun brand in favor of its own in 1986, the company was a significant player in the worldwide auto industry.
Nissan announced on Tuesday that it would resurrect the Datsun brand for a series of affordable small cars that would be offered for sale in Russia, India, and Indonesia. Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan/Renault, made the news while on a visit to Jakarta. Along with Nissan and Infiniti, Ghosn wants Datsun to become Nissan’s third international brand.
Nissan can probably avoid the problems it ran into in the US when Datsun was kicked out in 1981 by sticking to new models for emerging countries.
One of the most noteworthy branding decisions in the history of the auto industry was Nissan’s choice to rename Datsun to Nissan. Datsun had been selling cars in the United States since 1958, when Nissan dispatched two executives to aid in increasing sales and brand recognition.
Like Toyota, Datsun started off slowly but acquired popularity thanks to the Z sports car, currently regarded as a classic, and the fuel-efficient B-210 small (marketed as the Bluebird internationally). Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple, was one of its prominent supporters and even made an appearance in a Datsun ad.
Therefore, when the corporation started the process of changing its American dealerships and badges to Nissan, many owners were taken aback. It was a well-known brand in Japan, where its parent business was a major player in the industry.
However, Nissan was not well-known in the United States, and the change caused a great deal of confusion among American automobile buyers. It took time for Americans to get used to saying Nissan. According to several analysts, the decision likely cost Nissan crucial time in its battle with Toyota and Honda.
There are now no plans to sell the new Datsuns in the United States, but that may change depending on how well they perform in the European and UK markets.
Even if he (and the automobiles) won’t look like this, The Woz is still alive and well to star in another commercial.
What caused the demise of Datsun?
The redi-GO tiny hatchback’s manufacture in India has been discontinued, according to Datsun.
Due to weak sales, Nissan has decided to stop producing its inexpensive small car brand Datsun in India. The automaker said on Wednesday that the Chennai plant’s redi-Go production has come to a stop. Datsun Go and Go+, two of its other models, were already not in production. Datsun has never produced significant sales in India, but the Japanese automaker is currently only present in a small number of countries due to its exit from the largest market for small cars in the world.
Are Datsun vehicles dependable?
Datsun Redi Go’s 4-cylinder, i-SAT petrol engine, which also powers the Renault Kwid, makes it a dependable vehicle to purchase. Depending on the fuel quality and required power, the engine automatically modifies the spark timing. Power is delivered linearly and smoothly. Only a small amount of vibration is felt within the cabin, and NVH levels are good. While overtaking, the engine doesn’t feel stressed. At low speeds, the steering is light and simple to use, but at higher speeds, greater feedback would have been welcome. To make the car more appealing, the corporation must expand its sales and service network. Overall, as long as you maintain it with genuine parts and perform the prescribed services on a regular basis, you shouldn’t have any concerns about this automobile.
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Nissan: Is Datsun coming back?
Today, Nissan formally brought the Datsun brand back to life after nearly three decades in obscurity. Before 1984, when Nissan replaced Datsun as the company’s primary automobile brand in the United States (and everywhere by 1986).
What was Toyota’s previous name?
As a section of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. (later Toyota Industries Corporation, now a subsidiary), a Japanese firm established by his father, Toyoda Sakichi, Toyoda Kiichiro established what would later become the Toyota Motor Corporation in 1933.
Do Datsuns still get built today?
Nissan withdrew the Datsun brand in 1986, but in 2013, Nissan restored Datsun as a reasonably priced “low cost” brand for a number of emerging regions, including India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Russia.
The GO, a Fiesta-sized 1.2-liter hatchback that shares many characteristics with the more expensive Nissan Micra, including its engine and a large portion of its interior, was the first “new-era” 21st Century Datsun car to be released.
The Datsun GO+, a small family estate variant, quickly joined the GO, and later the Cross (a GO with fake harsher crossover appearance) was added. The GO underwent crash testing in India shortly after making its debut in 2013. Global NCAP gave the new Datsun a zero out of five stars for safety, which caused the organization to write to Nissan and ask that the GO either be significantly re-engineered or be discontinued from sale. Despite Nissan’s failure to react to either request, Datsun sales in India didn’t appear to be affected.
In addition to the GO-based variants, Datsun also provided the more practical mi-DO and the on-DO saloon for the Russian market. Both of these models were badge-engineered versions of the Lada Granta, with VAZ Lada being a member of the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
Where are Nissan cars produced?
Six factories located in Mexico, the United States, and Japan together produce the vast majority of Nissan vehicles: Plant in Tochigi (Japan) Plant Oppama (Japan) Kentucky Plant (Japan)
What does the name Nissan mean?
Have you ever heard the name of a brand and wondered where it originated? Sometimes a company’s name is derived from the founder, while other times it’s a totally fictitious name chosen because it sounds interesting. However, in some instances, the names of various brands have fascinating histories, Nissan being one such them.
If you looked this up online, you might have discovered that Nissan is a boy’s name in Hebrew that means “miracle. That might be the case, but Nissan is a Japanese automaker, so we know that’s probably not where the name originated.
In actuality, the Nissan name’s significance isn’t really a “Despite being an acronym, it has no meaning at all. Actually, the holding corporation Nihon Sangyo (or Nippon Sangyo), founded in 1928, is where the name comes from. However, the name quickly adopted the acronym Ni-San, or Nissan, for stock market purposes.
Nissan didn’t start producing cars until the middle of the 1930s. Nissan combined its subsidiary Tobata Casting with another automaker it now owns, Datsun. The auto components division of Tobata Casting was split off in 1934 and given the name Nissan Motor. By 1935, Datsun automobile manufacture had started in Yokohama. Then came vehicles with the Nissan name.