Page "Datsun" Paragraph 15

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.

Before the entry into the American market in 1958, Nissan did not produce cars under the Nissan brand name, but only trucks.

Their in-house designed cars were always branded as Datsuns.

Hence, for Nissan executives it would be only natural to use such a successful name when exporting models to the United States.

Only in the 1960s did Nissan begin to brand some automobile models as Nissans, and these were limited to their high-end models, for example the Cedric luxury-type sedan.

In America, the Nissan branch was named " Nissan Motor Corporation in U. S. A .", and chartered on September 28, 1960, in California.

Nissan may have had no problems with using the name Nissan in America, but the small cars the firm exported to America were still named Datsun.