 2013 logo | |
| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Founded |
|
| Defunct |
|
| Fate | Discontinued |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
Area served |
|
Key people |
|
| Products | Automobiles, light trucks |
| Parent | Nissan |
| Website | datsun |
Datsun (UK: /ˈdætsən/, US: /ˈdɑːtsən/)[1] was a Japanese automobile manufacturer brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. Nissan phased out the Datsun brand in March 1986, but relaunched it in June 2013 as the brand for low-cost vehicles manufactured for emerging markets. Nissan considered phasing out the Datsun brand for a second time in 2019 and 2020,[2] eventually discontinuing the struggling brand in April 2022.[3]
In 1931, DAT Motorcar Co. chose to name its new small car "Datson", a name which indicated the new car's smaller size when compared to the DAT's larger vehicle already in production. When Nissan took control of DAT in 1934, the name "Datson" was changed to "Datsun", because "son" also means "loss" (損 son) in Japanese, and to honour the sun depicted in the national flag – thus the name Datsun: Dattosan (ダットサン, Dattosan).[4] The Datsun name is internationally well known for the 510, Fairlady roadsters, and the Z and ZX coupés.
- ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
- ^ Gastelu, Gary (13 May 2020). "Nissan is killing Datsun again, report says". Fox News. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020.
- ^ Pappas, Thanos (22 April 2022). "Datsun Is Officially Dead For The Second Time Around". Car Scoops. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
- ^ Consumano, Michael A. (1985). The Japanese Automobile Industry. Harvard University Asia Center. p. 33. ISBN 9780674472556.
Also, the symbol was derived from [lemons] which are famous in Japan