02-05-2013, 03:15 PM
Nissan Motor Company Ltd
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INTRODUCTION
Nissan was the sixth largest automaker in the world behind General Motors, Volkswagen AG, Toyota, Hyundai Motor Group, and Ford in 2011.[2] It formerly marketed vehicles under the "Datsun" brand name. As of 2011, the company's global headquarters is located in Nishi-ku, Yokohama. In 1999, Nissan entered a two way alliance with Renault S.A. of France, which owns 43.4% of Nissan while Nissan holds 15% of Renault shares, as of 2008. Along with its normal range of models, Nissan also produces a range of luxury models branded as Infiniti.
The Nissan VQ engines, of V6 configuration, have been featured among Ward's 10 Best Engines for 14 straight years.
Nissan name first used in 1930s
In 1928, Yoshisuke Aikawa founded the holding company Nippon Sangyo (Japan Industries or Nippon Industries). "The name 'Nissan' originated during the 1930s as an abbreviation"[6] used on the Tokyo stock market for Nippon Sangyo. This company was the famous Nissan "Zaibatsu" (combine) 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.[7]
Nissan eventually grew to include 74 firms, and became the fourth-largest combine in Japan during World War II.[8]
In 1930, Aikawa purchased controlling(?) shares in DAT Motors, and then in 1933 it merged Tobata Casting's automobile parts department with DAT Motors. As Tobata Casting was a Nissan company, this was the beginning of Nissan's automobile manufacturing.[9]
Nissan Motor founded in 1934
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. (日産自動車 Nissan Jidōsha?). 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 Nippon Industries) in June, 1934. At this time Nissan Motor effectively became owned by Nippon Sangyo and Hitachi.[10]
Nissan built trucks, airplanes, and engines for the Japanese military. The company's main plant was moved to China after land there was captured by Japan. The plant made machinery for the Japanese war effort until it was captured by American and Russian forces. From 1947 to 1948 the company was called Nissan Heavy Industries Corp.
Nissan's early American connection
DAT had inherited Kubota's chief designer, American engineer William R. Gorham. This, along with Aikawa's inspiring 1908 visit to Detroit, was to greatly affect Nissan's future.[3][11]
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. All the machinery, vehicle designs and engine designs originally came out of the United States. Much of the tooling came from the Graham factory and Nissan had a Graham license under which trucks were made. The machinery was imported into Japan by Mitsubishi[12] on behalf of Nissan, which went into the first Yokohama factory to produce cars.
Relationship with Ford Motor Company
From 1993 to 2002, Nissan partnered with Ford to market the Mercury Villager and the Nissan Quest. The two minivans were manufactured with all the same parts and were virtually identical aside from several cosmetic differences. In 2002, Ford discontinued the Villager to make room for its Freestar and Monterey. Nissan brought out a new version of the Quest in 2004, which was designed in-house and no longer bore any relation to Ford's models. Twenty years after the Quest joint venture, Nissan would be Ford's rival to supply taxis for New York City. The Nissan NV200 was chosen over the Ford Transit Connect.
In 1992, Nissan relaunched its Terrano four-wheel drive, which was cosmetically and mechanically identical to the Ford Maverick. Both cars were built in Spain. Although the Maverick was discontinued in 1998 due to disappointing sales, the Nissan Terrano was a strong seller and remained in production until 2005, when it was replaced by the Nissan Pathfinder.
Nissan Motor Co v. Nissan Computer Corporation
In December 1999, legal action was instituted by Nissan Motor seeking $10,000,000 in damages from Uzi Nissan, president of Nissan Computer. In December 2002, Uzi Nissan was handed an injunction restricting his use of the Nissan name and the domains Nissan.com and Nissan.net which he owns.
In 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Nissan Computer to appeal the case, which resulted in reversal of some findings previously in favor of Nissan Motor.[26]
On February 5, 2008, Final Judgement was entered for the case, with Nissan Computer being awarded costs and neither party prevailing.[27] Immediately following the ruling, Nissan Motor filed a trademark application for Computer Equipment in March 2008,[28] viewed by some as an attempt to acquire the domain through UDRP, an arbitration panel proceeding which often finds in favor of trademark holders.