Nissan repairs and maintenance servicing

Nissan

The origins of the brand Nissan lie in the founding of Kaishinsha Motorcar Works in Tokyo in 1911. The DAT, the company's first car was manufactured in 1914. The production of the Datsun models was taken over in the course of a further foundation in 1934, whereby Datsun was the oldest producer of Japan. Subsequently after the takeover, the company focused on the manufacture and mass production of trucks, until in 1934 at a meeting of the shareholders today's name Nissan Motor Company was given.

Foreign trade and expansion to the west

In addition to purchasing the company Minsei diesel, which produced both forklifts and automobiles, also the British partner Austin was won. On the basis of a licensing agreement of 1952 the model A40 Somerset, which was also called Austin, was manufactured first partly and finally in 1960 completely in Japan.

A short time later Nissan was able to establish branches worldwide, first in 1960 in the USA. Starting from 1962 the enterprise began with the export to European countries and finally to Australia. Another takeover of the Japanese manufacturer Prince in 1966 brought Nissan a further extension of its model range. Popular and well-known were especially the mid-class models Gloria, which was part of the upper medium class until 2004, and the Skyline, which was sold in Germany under the name Datsun.

The ultimate international breakthrough was achieved with the legendary Z series in 1969, which is with more than 1.65 million cars produced the world's most successful sports car series. In Germany, the models were offered as Datsun and later again under the name Nissan. The current successor of the sport coupé is called since 2008 Nissan 370Z.

Global player with a local impact

Two oil crises in the early 1970s caused problems for the markets and the automotive industry, which had also a negative financial effect on Nissan. Nevertheless, Nissan has been able to survive with the help of the Datsun models and the success of the Sunny model since 1973. In 1973 Nissan founded the first official branch office in Germany to continue the distribution of the Datsun vehicles.

Two names, two brands – one basis

During the war Datsun partly continued to exist in the various models. In order to distinguish itself and not be linked to the armament production anymore, Datsun was often retained and used as a name in order to facilitate the sale of automobiles. In the middle of the 1970s, the brand was gradually abandoned since the war was economically over.

Partnership with Renault

With the introduction of the brand Infiniti in 1989 in the USA, the Japanese manufacturer tried to compete against Toyota and Honda in the field of luxury class. In Europe, the newly opened headquarters in the Netherlands started to control their destinies. A company crisis since the early 1990s, initiated by a financial crisis in Japan, brought Nissan to the brink of its existence. However, through a fusion with Renault in 1999, this could be overcome.

Common model design and popular models

Now thanks to the Renault leadership debts could be paid off. A process of refurbishment followed. The know-how transfer was good for both Renault and Nissan models. Within the development process attention was paid to a certain similarity in design and construction. The exchange of engine and transmission technology is visible in the small cars Micra K12 and Renault Clio III. In general, Nissan currently offers small city cars in Germany on the one hand, and on other hand crossover models, which visually recall the big ones. The increasingly popular SUVs such as Juke, X-Trail, Murano and Qashqai all have an all-wheel drive option.

In the compact class models Almera and Primera have been replaced since 2004 by the Tiida. The Leaf, the world's best-selling electric car, is particularly innovative in the compact class. The Leaf was able to increase the number of e-cars in Germany, since in Germany there is still a relatively small number of registrations. In 2015 for instance 5236 cars were registered in the UK and but only 948 in Germany.