Growth During Wartime

• Nissan founder Yoshisuke Aikawa
  
  With its main plant in occupied China, Nissan prospered during World War II, building aircraft, land vehicles and engines for the military. Nissan returned to civilian production after the war.
  
  

Multinational Aspirations

• Nissan signs a deal in 1953 with British-owned Austin Motor Company to build the Austin 40
  
  Nissan merged with the Prince Motor Company in 1966 because the Japanese government wanted to create a large multinational company to compete globally.
  
  

Name Change

• The 2009 Nissan GT-R
  
  Nissan marketed its cars in the United States as Datsun until 1979, when it changed to Nissan to conform with the rest of world, which received its imports under the Nissan nameplate.
  
  

Electric Market

• The Nissan assembly plant
  
  Nissan is producing a line of electric cars for the European market, hoping to boost its limited presence with an all-electric hybrid, plug-in system vehicle.
  
  

Ford Alliance

• Nissan's early effort with the Prince Skyline 1500
  
  The automaker partnered with Ford Motor Company to produce the Mercury Village and Nissan Quest minivans from 1993 to 2002, when Ford dropped the Village to produce the Freestar.
  
  

Significance

• A racing version of the 1978 Datsun 280Z
  
  In the 1970s, Nissan was a pioneer in importing low-cost sports cars, such as the Datsun Z series, into the American market.