DAT Motor Company
The car brand Datsun is part of car industry history. It is no longer in existence, but its legacies will remain for many years to come. Datsun was the embodiment of many years of struggles within the car industry. Over the past decades, it had symbolized the battle fought by Japan emerging from the wreck of the Second World War. Datsun was also involved with some superstitious beliefs and practices, and that is what makes the brand so distinct and historically colourful.
The brand Datsun refers to the name of a car popular during the World War era. A sense of history would tell you that being Japanese at that time evoked a lot of reactions. However, Datsun still managed to strike fear in the American and other offshore car markets. The name Datsun was derived from the name of the company that developed and distributed it. DAT Motor Company was a car maker based in Japan.
The letters DAT in the name were derived form the first letters of the owners' family names: Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Aoyama and Meitaro Takeuchi. When the company developed the smallest of all its models, it creatively adopted the name "Datson", which means "son of DAT".
In 1933, Japanese giant car firm Nissan Motors Co Ltd acquired DAT Motorcar. Part of its expansion into the United States, Nissan used DAT to conceal its national identity because American consumers that time naturally despised Japanese brand associations. Interestingly, the superstitious side of the company showed off. The suffix 'son' in the name Datson literally means 'lose' in Niponggo. And so the letter 'o' was changed to letter 'u', hence, Datsun.
As a car brand, Datsun did well globally, especially in North America. As a part of Nissan, it was surprising that the brand swallowed Nissan wholly. In the 1980s, the word Datsun became a household name and Nissan was neglected as a brand name. Nissan moved to scrap the brand Datsun as part of its globalization effort. It invested heavily in changing logos, replacing car plates and modifying advertisements. During the period, the company adopted the ad tag line 'The Name is Nissan', which clearly depicts Nissan's strong will to emerge out of Datsun's shadows and stand as its own.
It took time before car markets were able to recognise Nissan form Datsun. As a car brand, there were so many reasons why Datsun lasted in car buyers' minds. First, Datsun symbolized the initial dominance and advancement of the Japanese car technology. Clearly, before Toyota and Honda came to astound American and global consumers, Datsun came first and paved the way for fellow Japanese car makers' into the hearts of car markets.
From 1935 to 1983, Datsun came up with about 60 car models bearing the brand and trade name Datsun. With superior types of engine and standard designs of exteriors, Datsun was effective in turning heads and convincing car buyers to acquire a unit. Indeed, Datsun would remain in people's minds for a long time.
Original Authors: Manny
Edit Update Authors: RPN
Updated On: 21/06/2007
