Nissan started in 1933 as the Jidosha Seico Co Ltd. The following year, it merged with another manufacturer and the new company was christened Nissan Motor Company, Ltd with an emphasis on building cars with quality and reliability.
Nissan marketed its vehicles under the Datsun brand. After the Pacific war, the brand began spreading worldwide, building partnerships such as the one with the UK-based Austin Motor Co and establishing a presence in the United States. The first Datsuns arrived in American in 1958. Vehicles like the Datsun 1000 were based on Austin chassis.
Nissan merged with Prince Motor Company in the 60s, a union that helped it move towards more up-market vehicles. In the US, it produced a car specifically styled for the US market, the Datsun 510 sedan.
Datsun rose further to prominence in the 1970s with the introductions of its 240Z sports car. Powered by an inline six-cylinder engine, the car had a blend of style, performance and affordability.
In 1981, Nissan stopped using the Datsun name and instead used Nissan. The '80s also saw Nissan launch its tuning division called Nismo to enable it to develop performance vehicles and accessories. The company also took its production to America, with the construction of a Tennessee-based plant.
The early '90s saw Nissan's fortunes rise further thanks to fun-to-drive cars like the 300ZX, Maxima and Sentra. But this trend didn't last long and by the late '90s Nissan's offerings consisted of pretty unimaginative vehicles and there was doubt over some quality issues.
After the turn of the new century Nissan bounced back. It redesigned Sentra and Altima and added new models like the Titan and Armada. A 1999 alliance with Renault, helped the company's finances greatly and today the manufacturer is known for offering a wide range of vehicles capable of going head to head with the best when it comes to quality, dependability and performance.
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Check Nissan insurance groups - select a model to start
Whether you currently own a Nissan or you are considering buying a model from
the Nissan range, it helps if you understand insurance groups and how they affect
your premium.
Insurance group ratings take into account performance, security, damage and parts costs, new
car values, availability of body shells and repair costs and times. What you'll typically
find is that cars in lower insurance groups attract a lower premium, whilst cars in higher
insurance groups attract a higher premium - usually because they are high performance models
or have high repair or replacement costs. Just choose a model to check its insurance group ratings.