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The Japanese company Nissan intends to stop production of cars bearing the Datsun name, which has a history of more than 100 years in the market.
The Datsun model contributed to the strengthening of the Japanese auto industry around the world after World War II. Despite the sale of millions of cars, the Datsun star faded in the eighties.
But three decades later, Nissan rebranded the Datsun, calling it “an important part of the Nissan legacy.”
Nissan Azusa Momos spokeswoman said Monday that the company will continue to sell its stock of Datsun vehicles and continue to provide after-sales services to its customers.
Momos told the BBC: “We can assure our customers who have Datsun cars, and those who intend to buy them, that customer satisfaction remains a priority for us.”
Before the name Datsun came into existence, it was “Dat WHICHIt is the name of the car that Kaishinsha began manufacturing in Tokyo in 1914.
The name Dat is carved from the family names of the company’s first three investors: Den, Aoyama, and Takeuchi.
The acronym DAT in Japanese means “lightning fast”, and it was promoted as referring in English to the initials of three words that mean “durable, attractive, and trustworthy.”
picture released, Getty Images
Hollywood star Paul Newman checks out his Datsun race car
The Datsun helped boost the Japanese auto industry’s presence in Europe, the United States and Asia after World War II.
The Datsun was one of the three main models that Nissan marketed globally, along with the Nissan flagship model and the luxury Infiniti model.
In the 1970s, Datsun’s fuel-efficient cars were being marketed as the best choice for those who used their cars on a daily basis instead of cars with high fuel consumption.
About 20 million Datsun cars have been sold in 190 countries around the world. However, the star of this model faded in 1981, becoming the main model, “Nissan”, the world’s prevalent.
picture released, Getty Images
A worker at the Datsun Automobile Plant in Japan in 1968
In 2012, Nissan announced the return of the Datsun, and sold a number of cars in countries including India and Indonesia.
At the time, like many rival automakers, Nissan faced a downturn in Europe and the United States, turning to emerging economies with cheaper models. However, sales of these models have declined in recent years.
Nissan said Monday that it will now focus on the models and core parts that benefit customers, distributors and the manufacturer the most” as part of a global transformation strategy.