Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., recently announced it reached a new milestone in June with the production of its 100 millionth vehicle. Since its establishment in 1933, Nissan has produced about 76,640,000 vehicles in Japan and about 23,500,000 vehicles overseas. As of the end of June, Nissan’s total global production stood at about 100,140,000 vehicles.
Nissan was established in December 1933 under the name “Jidosha-Seizo Co., Ltd.” (Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) after taking over operations for manufacturing small-size Datsun passenger cars from Tobata Casting Co., Ltd. The first car produced by Nissan under the Jidosha-Seizo name was a Datsun Type 12. The company name was changed to “Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.” the following year.
In 1935, Nissan began operations at its Yokohama Plant, the first plant in Japan to mass-produce automobiles, and went on to play a pioneering role in Japan’s early automobile industry.
Production capacity in Japan grew further with the start of vehicle assembly at the Oppama Plant in 1962, the Zama Plant in 1965, the Murayama Plant in 1966 (after the company merged with Prince Motor Co., Ltd., a major Japanese automaker, that same year), the Tochigi Plant in 1971, and the Kyushu Plant in 1976.
Nissan first began producing vehicles overseas in 1959 in Taiwan. In 1966, the company began production in Mexico, followed by production in the US and Spain in 1983, the UK in 1986 and China in 1995.
“Nissan’s manufacturing activities has been constantly growing, with global expansion plans for manufacturing facilities that have ranged from the Americas to Europe and Asia” commented Monal Zeidan, Senior Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications Departments at Nissan Middle East. “Nissan has a commitment to offer its customers the best products no matter where they reside; a true testament is the Sunny, with over 17.5 million units produced worldwide, many of them on GCC roads.”
Nissan entered Middle East markets in 1957, with the first Nissan vehicle sold in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1994, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. set up a regional Middle East head quarters, based in Dubai, further strengthening Nissan’s presence in the region, covering over 20 countries, making it the largest representation in the Middle East amongst all Japanese manufacturers.
The company’s manufacturing plants, including the Sunderland plant in the UK, the Smyrna plant in Tenn., US, and the Canton plant in Miss., US, are today among the most efficient vehicle assembly plants in the world. Nissan led the North American auto industry in manufacturing efficiency in the 2006 Harbour Report, with an overall measurement of 28.46 labor hours per vehicle.
The following are Nissan’s major global production major milestones:
1942 100,000 vehicles
1962 1,000,000 vehicles
1969 5,000,000 vehicles
1972 10,000,000 vehicles
1988 50,000,000 vehicles
1992 60,000,000 vehicles
1995 70,000,000 vehicles
1999 80,000,000 vehicles
2003 90,000,000 vehicles
2006 100,000,000 vehicles
