Nissan : Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., often called Nissan Motors or simply Nissan, is a Japanese automobile manufacturer which formerly marketed vehicles under the Datsun brand name until 1983. The company’s main offices are located in the Ginza area of Chūō-ku, Tokyo but Nissan plans to move their headquarters to Yokohama, Kanagawa by 2010, with construction starting in 2007.

Nissan is Japan’s second largest car company after Toyota and is among the top three Asian rivals of the “big three” in the U.S. The Nissan VQ engines, of V6 configuration, have featured among World’s 10 Best Engines for 12 straight years. Nissan has produced an extensive range of mainstream cars and trucks, initially for domestic consumption but exported around the world since the 1950s. There was a major strike in 1953.

It also produced several memorable sports cars, including the Datsun Fairlady 1500, 1600 and 2000 Roadsters, the Z-car, an affordable sports car originally introduced in 1969; and the Skyline GT-R, a powerful all-wheel-drive sports coupe.

• In 1914, the Kwaishinsha Motorcar Works, established three years earlier, in Azabu-Hiroo District in Tokyo, built the first DAT. The works was renamed to Kwaishinsha Motorcar Co. in 1918, and again, in 1925, to DAT Motorcar Co.
• In 1931, Aikawa purchased controlling(?) shares in DAT Motors, then in 1933 merged Tobata Casting’s automobile parts department with DAT Motors. As Tobata Casting was a Nissan company, this was the beginning on Nissan’s automobile manufacturing.
• In 1934, Aikawa “separated the expanded automobile parts division of Tobata Casting and incorporated it as a new subsidiary, which he named Nissan Motor (Nissan)”. Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• In the late 20th Century, with Nissan facing severe financial difficulties, Nissan entered an alliance with Renault S.A. of France. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is a unique group of two global companies linked by cross-shareholding, with Renault holding 44.3% or Nissan shares, while Nissan holds 15% of Renault shares. Until 1982, Nissan automobiles in most export markets were sold under the Datsun brand. Since 1989, Nissan has sold its luxury models in North America under the Infiniti brand.

Hino and Isuzu, but unlike Toyota, Nissan partnered with an established European company to gain access to automobile and engine designs. Nissan chose Austin of the United Kingdom. Later, in 1952 Nissan Motor Company of Japan entered into a well-documented legal agreement with Austin Motor Company of the UK, for Nissan to assemble 2000 imported Austins from partially assembled sets and sell them in Japan under the Austin trademark.

A new generation VQ series engine will premiere on the next generation Infiniti G35, the future Skyline GT-R and the 2007 Nissan 350Z. There will also be a new generation 2.5VQ 4-cylinder engine that will power the next generation Altima and likely will power the upcoming SPEC-V 2007 Sentra.