Since 1999, Nissan has been part of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance (Mitsubishi joining in 2016), a partnership between Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors of Japan, with Renault of France. As of November 2023, Renault holds a 15% voting stake in Nissan, while Nissan holds the same stake in Renault.[8] Since October 2016, Nissan held a 34% controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors.[9] In November 2024, Nissan reduced its stake in Mitsubishi Motors from 34% to 24%.[10] Nissan planned to merge with Honda Motor Company in 2026, after an announcement in December 2024.[11] However by February 2025, Nissan announced it would abandon merger plans as the automaker stated that it wanted to become an equal partner to Honda rather than a subsidary.[12]
In 2017, Nissan was the sixth largest automaker in the world, after Toyota, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, General Motors and Ford.[13] With a revenue of $78 billion in 2022, Nissan was the ninth largest automobile maker in the world
Masujiro Hashimoto (橋本増治郎) founded the Kwaishinsha (Kaishinsha) Motor Car Works (快進社自働車工場, Kwaishinsha jidōsha kōjō, A Good Company Automobile Manufacturer) on 1 July 1911 in Azabu-Hiroo district of Tokyo. In 1914, the company produced its first car, called the DAT.[1][2][3]
The new car's model name was an acronym of the company's investors' surnames:
Kenjiro Den (Den Kenjirō)
Rokuro Aoyama (Aoyama Rokurō)
Meitaro Takeuchi (Takeuchi Meitarō)
It was renamed to Kaishinsha 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, and disaster recovery efforts as a result of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were produced for the military market. At the same time, Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd. (jitsuyo means practical use or utility) produced small trucks using parts, and materials imported from the United States.[14][better source needed]
See also: Historic vehicles
Commercial operations were placed on hold during Japan's participation in World War I, and the company contributed to the war effort.
In 1926, the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based Jitsuyo Jidosha Co., Ltd (Jitsuyō Jidōsha Seizō 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. (ダット自動車製造株式会社, DAT Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha) in Osaka until 1932. From 1923 to 1925, the company produced light cars and trucks under the name of Lila.[15] In 1929, DAT Automobile Manufacturing Inc. merged with a separated part of the manufacturing business of IHI Corporation to become Automobile Industries Co., Ltd.[clarification needed]
In 1931, DAT came out with a new smaller car, called the Datsun Type 11, the first "Datson", meaning "Son of DAT". Later in 1933, after Nissan Group zaibatsu 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" (ダットサン, Dattosan).[16]
In 1933, the company name was Nipponized to Jidosha-Seizo Co., Ltd. (Jidōsha Seizō Kabushiki-Gaisha, "Automobile Manufacturing Share Company") and was moved to