Domo arigato, Mr. Datto: Datsun is Back!
Words by Niky Tamayo



It's perhaps the worst-kept secret in the motoring world. While we've been hearing rumors about it for weeks, Nissan has finally confirmed it: Datsun is coming back! The Datsun name was once a large part of Nissan production, but it was dropped in the 80's as Nissan moved to unify its image and branding across all markets. However, given the strength of emerging markets like Southeast Asia and India, Nissan now feels the need to offer entry-level cars at even lower prices than the current Sentra and March command. The Datsun name may just be the ticket.

Datsun was derived from DAT motors, which Nissan acquired long before their merger with Prince. The Datsun name used to apply to all Nissan vehicles except their trucks and high end models, and was especially important for the export market to distance itself from negative connotations due to the association of the Nissan brand to the Japanese military in World War II. But in the 1980's, the Datsun name was dropped to rationalize Nissan’s global brand strategy.
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