Nissan Motor Company is a multinational automaker that has its head office in Japan. Nissan is the more popular name for the company. The company went through a restructuring exercise which gave it a more independent form, separating it from the Nissan Group, of which it was a very important member.

Nissan has a history with Datsun, a brand for which the company marketed vehicles. Datsun was considered to be an automobile brand that manufactured many cars. Nissan entered an agreement with Renault S.A of France in 1999. As of 2008 Renault S.A has 44.4% ownership rights of Nissan. In the United States, Nissan is a brand that is among the top three Asian rivals of the Big Three. The Big Three refers to the three major North American automotive companies; they are Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Presently Nissan is the third largest Japanese car manufacturer and is the maker of the Infiniti luxury brand vehicle.

For fourteen (14) consecutive years the Nissan VQ engines, configured by V6, have been recognized among Ward’s 10 Best Engines. The Ward’s 10 Best Engines is a yearly list that shows the ten best automobile available in the United States market. The best engines are selected Ward’s AutoWorld magazine.

History

The name Nissan was derived from the holding company that was established by Yoshisuke Aikawa in 1928. The company was called Nippon Sangyo which meant Japan Industries or Nippon industries. The Nippon Sangyo company used the name Nissan when trading stocks. This company was well known for the Nissan Zaibatsu which comprised Hitachi and Tobata Casting.

Eventually Nissan added to its size by incorporating seventy four (74) firms making it the fourth largest merge in Japan during the Second World War.

Aikawa purchased shares in DAT Motors in 1931, later it merged Tobata Casting’s automobile parts depart with DAT Motors 2 years later. Seeing that Tobata Casting was originally a Nissan company this was the commencement of the manufacturing of Nissan automobiles.