Nissan

Before Nissan, there was a man who believed Japan could build its own cars. His name was Yoshisuke Aikawa. In the early 1930s, Japan's roads were filled with American cars. Ford and General Motors had factories there, cranking out vehicles that Japanese engineers could only admire from a distance. Aikawa thought that was wrong. Japan had smart people. Japan had factories. Why did they need foreigners to build their transportation? In 1933, he started a company. It was part of a larger holding group he ran called Nihon Sangyo. On the Tokyo stock exchange, people shortened that name to "Ni-San." It stuck. Nissan was born. The first cars they built wore a different badge. Datsun. Small. Affordable. Simple. Perfect for a country where most people still walked or rode bicycles. The Datsun name came... More