. for other uses see nissan disambiguation . nissan motor co. ltd. nissan global headquarters in yokohama japan native name romanized name nissan jid sha kabushiki gaisha type public k.k. traded as tyo 7201 otc pink nsany industry automotive financial services founded december 26 1933 ; 82 years ago 1933 12 26 founder masujiro hashimoto kenjiro den rokuro aoyama meitaro takeuchi yoshisuke aikawa william r. gorham headquarters nishi ku yokohama japan officially registered in kanagawa ku yokohama kanagawa prefecture area served worldwide key people carlos ghosn chairman president & ceo 1 toshiyuki shiga vice chairman 1 2 hiroto saikawa evp 3 philippe klein evp 4 5 trevor mann evp 3 products automobiles luxury vehicles commercial vehicles outboard motors forklift trucks production output 5 097 772 units 2014 6 revenue 11.38 trillion fy2014 7 operating income 589.6 billion fy2014 7 profit 457.6 billion fy2014 7 total assets 17.04 trillion fy2014 7 total equity 5.07 trillion fy2014 7 number of employees 142 925 consolidated march 2014 8 parent renault 43.4 % divisions nissan infiniti nismo datsun mitsubishi motors subsidiaries list transportation nissan commercial vehicles nissan china venucia 50 % nissan shatai 43 % other nissan forklift nissan marine autech international nissan india nissan motor manufacturing uk ghandhara nissan limited nissan motor indonesia nissan usa nissan canada nissan mexico website www.nissan global.com en index.html nissan motor company ltd japanese hepburn nissan jid sha kabushiki gaisha usually shortened to nissan ni s n or uk n s n ; japanese nis a is a japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in nishi ku yokohama japan . since 1999 nissan has been part of the renault nissan alliance a partnership between nissan and french automaker renault . as of 2013 renault holds a 43.4 % voting stake in nissan while nissan holds a 15 % non voting stake in renault . carlos ghosn serves as ceo of both companies . a nissan dealership in patiala india nissan motor sells its cars under the nissan infiniti and datsun brands with in house performance tuning products labelled nismo . nissan was the sixth largest automaker in the world behind toyota general motors volkswagen group hyundai motor group and ford in 2013 . 9 taken together the renault nissan alliance would be the world s fourth largest automaker . nissan is the leading japanese brand in china russia and mexico . 10 contents 1 history 1.1 beginnings of datsun name from 1914 1.2 nissan name first used in 1930s 1.3 nissan motor founded in 1934 1.4 nissan s early american connection 1.5 austin motor company relations 1937 1960s 1.6 100 day strike of 1953 1.7 merger with prince motor company 1.8 miss fairlady 1.9 foreign expansion 1.10 relationships with other car companies 1.11 alliance with renault 1.12 other alliances and joint ventures 2 leadership 3 branding and corporate identity 3.1 brands 3.2 corporate identity 4 slogans 5 products 5.1 automotive products 5.1.1 japan 5.2 trucks 5.2.1 japan 5.2.2 second generation 5.2.3 europe 5.3 electric vehicles 5.4 autonomous cars 5.5 non automotive products 6 marketing activities 7 global sales figures 8 manufacturing locations 9 see also 10 notes and references 11 bibliography 12 external links history edit beginnings of datsun name from 1914 edit nissan model 70 phaeton 1938 nissan world headquarters in nishi ku yokohama masujiro hashimoto founded the kwaishinsha motor car works in 1911 . in 1914 the company produced its first car called dat . the new car s name was an acronym of the company s investors surnames kenjiro den den kenjir rokuro aoyama aoyama rokur meitaro takeuchi takeuchi meitar it was renamed to kwaishinsha motorcar co. ltd. in 1918 and again to dat jidosha & co. ltd. dat motorcar co. in 1925 . dat motors built trucks in addition to the dat and datsun passenger cars . the vast majority of its output were trucks due to an almost non existent consumer market for passenger cars at the time . beginning in 1918 the first dat trucks were produced for the military market . at the same time jitsuyo jidosha co. ltd. produced small trucks using parts and materials imported from the united states . 11 in 1926 the tokyo based dat motors merged with the osaka based jitsuyo jidosha co. ltd. jitsuy jid sha seiz kabushiki gaisha a.k.a. jitsuyo jidosha seizo established 1919 as a kubota subsidiary to become dat jidosha seizo co. ltd automobile manufacturing co. ltd. dat jid sha seiz kabushiki gaisha in osaka until 1932 . from 1923 to 1925 the company produced light cars and trucks under the name of lila . 12 in 1931 dat came out with a new smaller car the first datson meaning son of dat . later in 1933 after nissan took control of dat motors the last syllable of datson was changed to sun because son also means loss in japanese hence the name datsun dattosan . 13 in 1933 the company name was nipponized to jidosha seizo co. ltd. jid sha seiz kabushiki gaisha automobile manufacturing co. ltd. and was moved to yokohama . nissan name first used in 1930s edit in 1928 yoshisuke aikawa founded the holding company nihon sangyo japan industries or nihon industries . the name nissan originated during the 1930s as an abbreviation 14 used on the tokyo stock market for nihon sangyo . this company was the famous nissan zaibatsu which included tobata casting and hitachi . at this time nissan controlled foundries and auto parts businesses but aikawa did not enter automobile manufacturing until 1933 . 15 the zaibatsu eventually grew to include 74 firms and became the fourth largest in japan during world war ii . 16 in 1931 dat jidosha seizo became affiliated with tobata casting and was merged into tobata casting in 1933 . as tobata casting was a nissan company this was the beginning of nissan s automobile manufacturing . 17 nissan motor founded in 1934 edit in 1934 aikawa separated the expanded automobile parts division of tobata casting and incorporated it as a new subsidiary which he named nissan motor co. ltd. nissan jid sha . 18 the shareholders of the new company however were not enthusiastic about the prospects of the automobile in japan so aikawa bought out all the tobata casting shareholders using capital from nihon industries in june 1934 . at this time nissan motor effectively became owned by nihon sangyo and hitachi . 19 in 1935 construction of its yokohama plant was completed . 44 datsuns were shipped to asia central and south america . in 1935 the first car manufactured by an integrated assembly system rolled off the line at the yokohama plant . 11 nissan built trucks airplanes and engines for the japanese military . in 1937 the company s main plant was moved to the occupied manchuria and named manchuria heavy industries developing co. 20 in 1940 first knockdown kits were shipped to dowa jidosha kogyo dowa automobile one of mhid s companies for assembly . 11 in 1944 the head office was moved to nihonbashi tokyo and the company name was changed to nissan heavy industries ltd. which the company kept through 1949 . 11 nissan s early american connection edit dat had inherited kubota s chief designer american engineer william r. gorham . this along with aikawa s 1908 visit to detroit was to greatly affect nissan s future . 11 21 although it had always been aikawa s intention to use cutting edge auto making technology from america it was gorham that carried out the plan . most of the machinery and processes originally came from the united states . when nissan started to assemble larger vehicles under the nissan brand in 1937 much of the design plans and plant facilities were supplied by the graham paige company . 18 nissan also had a graham license under which passenger cars buses and trucks were made . 21 in david halberstam s 1986 book the reckoning halberstam states in terms of technology gorham was the founder of the nissan motor company and that young nissan engineers who had never met him spoke of him as a god and could describe in detail his years at the company and his many inventions . 22 austin motor company relations 1937 1960s edit 1937 datsun model 16 austin seven ruby from 1934 datsun began to build austin 7s under licence . this operation became the greatest success of austin s overseas licensing of its seven and marked the beginning of datsun s international success . 23 in 1952 nissan entered into a legal agreement with austin 24 25 for nissan to assemble 2 000 austins from imported partially assembled sets and sell them in japan under the austin trademark . the agreement called for nissan to make all austin parts locally within three years a goal nissan met . nissan produced and marketed austins for seven years . the agreement also gave nissan rights to use austin patents which nissan used in developing its own engines for its datsun line of cars . in 1953 british built austins were assembled and sold but by 1955 the austin a50 completely built by nissan and featuring a new 1489 cc engine was on the market in japan . nissan produced 20 855 austins from 1953 to 1959 . 26 nissan leveraged the austin patents to further develop their own modern engine designs past what the austin s a and b family designs offered . the apex of the austin derived engines was the new design a series engine in 1966 . in 1967 nissan introduced its new highly advanced four cylinder overhead cam ohc nissan l engine which while similar to mercedes benz ohc designs was a totally new engine designed by nissan . this engine powered the new datsun 510 which gained nissan respect in the worldwide sedan market . then in 1969 nissan introduced the datsun 240z sports car which used a six cylinder variation of the l series engine . the 240z was an immediate sensation and lifted nissan to world class status in the automobile market . 27 100 day strike of 1953 edit 1953 nissan labor dispute during the korean war nissan was a major vehicle producer for the u.s. army . 28 after the korean war ended significant levels of anti communist sentiment existed in japan . the union that organized nissan s workforce was strong and militant . 28 29 nissan was in financial difficulties and when wage negotiations came the company took a hard line . workers were locked out and several hundred were fired . the japanese government and the u.s. occupation forces arrested several union leaders . 28 the union ran out of strike funds and was defeated . a new labor union was formed 30 with shioji ichiro one of its leaders . ichiro had studied at harvard university on a u.s. government scholarship . he advanced an idea to trade wage cuts against saving 2 000 jobs . 31 ichiro s idea was made part of a new union contract 31 that prioritized productivity . between 1955 and 1973 nissan expanded rapidly on the basis of technical advances supported and often suggested by the union . ichiro became president of the confederation of japan automobile workers unions and the most influential figure in the right wing of the japanese labor movement . 28 merger with prince motor company edit 1966 prince r380 racecar in 1966 nissan merged with the prince motor company bringing more upmarket cars including the skyline and gloria into its selection . the prince name was eventually abandoned and successive skylines and glorias bore the nissan name . prince was used at the japanese nissan dealership nissan prince shop until 1999 when nissan red stage replaced it . nissan red stage itself has been replaced as of 2007 . the skyline lives on as the g series of infiniti . miss fairlady edit to capitalize the renewed investment during 1964 summer olympics nissan