Nissan might be in a sales slump at home in Japan and internationally, but most Westerners don't think of "Nissan" when the talk turns to "The first Japanese car company...". Most people assume that gigantic Toyota, which started out life as a loom works in the then-booming pre-WW II world of garment- and kimono-making, was also the first big Japanese car-maker. Nissan begs to differ. I have been to Toyota's and Honda's museums in Japan, but not Nissan's so can not speak from first-hand experience as to "who was first". But here's something interesting: Toyota already has a museum in the United States!
A look at the car pictured, a "Datsun 12", and it's easy to see why the Japanese "drive on the wrong side of the road", as Americans say. It's because the initial cars and trucks produced in Japan were made from what are today called 'CKD', a three-letter acronym that stands for Complete Knocked Down, which is a type of car kit including all parts. These kits, bought from and shipped from the UK, when assembled in Japan, had the vehicles completed with their steering wheels on "the right" side of the passenger compartment. Many of these CKD cars were from the UK's Morris car-maker, hence the similarity between early UK and Japanese cars.
According to Nissan's Public Relations official release (which follows): Nissan has announced that this past June marked an important milestone in the company's 73-year history: 100,000,000 vehicles built.
It all started in 1933 when Nissan, under the name "Jidosha-Seizo Co., Ltd" (Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd), manufactured its first automobile, a Datsun 12. The following year, the company name was officially changed to Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. In 1935, the Yokohama Plant became the first facility in Japan to mass-produce automobiles. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today, Nissan produces cars and trucks in facilities worldwide, and aims to continue improving quality and productivity as it sets its sights on future milestones. 100,000,000 is a lot of cars. Many of them were and are basic transportation devices used by the masses. Some of them, like the Fair Lady Z, have become icons in their own right, and today there are future stars, like the future 2009 Skyline GT-R, on the horizon, demonstrating that as fun as it can be to reflect on the past, Nissan continues to look forward. Congratulations are in order.
Comments