Nissan

Japanese car maker, Nissan, is ranked as the one of the three strongest Asian competitors in the United States. Formerly known as Datsun, Nissan, second only to Toyota as the largest car company in Japan, has won world-wide recognition for their V6-engine inspired design of the VQ engine which powers all of the major vehicles lines the company produces. The versatile and much-respected engine has won ten, consecutive awards "Ward's Ten Best Engines" list that is annually complied by Ward Communications. Specializing in motor technology since the beginning, Nissan has also manufactured engines for trucks and airplanes for the Japanese military before moving solely into the automotive market.

Although the original of the company began in the early part of the 20th century, it wasn't until decades later, in 1958, that Nissan gained a presence in the United States with their 48-horsepower, 1200 sedan, which was introduced under the Datsun name and were the first vehicles made in Japan to be produced on a mass scale. The following year, the company's first truck, a compact pickup, was also introduced. Eventually the company's efficient designs and progressive technologies established them as a genuine competitor in the world auto manufacturing market. According to the Nissan company their, "part Zen, part car aficionado: Love cars, love people, love life," has become the inspiration behind Nissan's continued innovations and worldwide success. Their efficient, smaller engines helped the company to experience record demands during the fuel crisis of the 1970s, eventually making them one of the largest exporters of automobiles in the world, but it was the introduction of the six-cylinder sports car, the 240Z, in 1970 that propelled Nissan to fame world-wide.

At one point, it seemed as though Nissan might not survive a series of financial hardships and billions of dollars in losses after the loss of production facilities in Australia, the company eventually bounced back with a new line up that included a total redesign of their luxury car, Infiniti. The enormous growth and profit income the company drew from this brought them international respect for causing one of the most dramatic economic rebounds in business history. The Nissan company has prided itself on their ability to exceed customer expectations, making a sizeable promise to continue pushing the limits of future technologies and design innovations. Part of what has helped Nissan continue to excel is their development of hybrid technologies to power their vehicles. One of the most recent cars that utilize hybrid technologies was Nissan's Altima Hybrid Prototype. Another type of hybrid the company is experimenting with will use hydrogen fuel cells.

Although Nissan has gained a great deal of respect and support for their automotive technologies, they are not limited to this market alone. In addition to their strong presences in the car market, Nissan also has had a number of unrelated ventures such as the mobile phone company Tu-Ka. One other element of the company's versatile portfolio is their ownership of Nissan Marine, which produces equipment and vehicles appropriate for aquatic use, such as boat motors and related elements.

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