Nissan

The modern Nissan car company began in 1933, but it's roots go back to about 1911. The Nissan world headquarters is in Yokohama, Japan, where it is the third largest automotive producer in the home market. The Nissan car company arrived in the United States in the late 60s under the name of Datsun, and quickly established a reputation for building small economical cars which were reliable.

In 1969 Datsun introduced the Fairlady 240Z two-seater sports car, which became an immediate hit and was the beginning of a series of Z cars, which expanded into 4 seat hatchback coupes. Nissan began offering a line of small pickup trucks during the 70s, which were then lengthened to become the KingCab.

The nameplate was changed to Nissan in the United States in 1983, the same year that the small Sentra four door sedan was introduced, soon followed by the larger Altima and Maxima.

Nissan diversified in with the launching of the Infinity luxury brand four door sedans in 1989, and in 1997 Infinity introduced the first luxury mid-size SUV. In 1999 Nissan entered into a partnership with the French car company Renault, which now has a minority ownership in the company and shares the same engines in some models.

In 2010 Infinity launched the M56S rear wheel drive 4 door sedan. Also in 2010, the Nissan Leaf electric car was introduced in the American market as the first production electric car, which can be charged by plugging into a household electrical outlet.

For 2011 the Nissan Cube wagon, the Juke 5-door wagon and small entry-level Versa are also offered. Nissan offers several SUV options in 2011 among the top-of-the-line Armada, plus Pathfinder, Rogue, Murano, and X-Terra models. The limited production 2011 Nissan GT-R sports car sells for over 80 thousand dollars, while the Sentra, Altima, and Maxima sedan lineup continue in production.

The latest incarnation of the Z car is the 370Z, being offered in 2011 along with the Nissan Frontier light pickup and the Titan full-size pickup models. Nissan presently builds cars in Mississippi and Tennessee in the United States, plus has an assembly plant in Mexico for the North American market.