A Little Nissan History

You might know Nissan as one of the many Japanese brands, but there’s much more to the history and the origin of this company.
Nissan was first established in 1911 as Kaishinsha Motor Car Works, which was founded in Tokyo, Japan by Masujiro Hashimoto. After several years, a holding company called Nihon Sangyo partnered with the car company and formed Nissan in 1928 as a shortening of the new company name. Originally, Nissan vehicles were sold under the Datsun banner in the US which was an acronym of the investors of Kaishinsha Motor Car Works.

Where Does Your Nissan Come From?

While the headquarters for Nissan is located in Yokohama, Japan, Nissan is a global company and has plants all over the world to build vehicles near the market where they are sold. This is similar to what nearly every car company of this size is doing these days to try and make certain we can have the vehicles we want. By building vehicles near the market they are sold, shipping costs are lowered and each plant can have a focus that makes more sense for the local market to provide the right mix of vehicles.

The Surprise we Need to Embrace

Will it surprise you that your Nissan isn’t likely built in Japan? It shouldn’t. Nissan has been building vehicles in North America for a few decades already. While there was a time when imports coming from Japan and other foreign areas were pure imports, today, many of the foreign companies have plants in the local area and build vehicles here. This means more jobs for those in the market and an ability to enjoy the benefits of vehicles that are meant for the area that we live and drive in on a daily basis.

The Locations that Build the Nissan Models We See

Nissan has a large selection of vehicles to choose from and they are built in a variety of places to give you an idea of where your Nissan comes from. Here’s a list of plants and what each one builds:

Vehicle Assembly Plant – Smyrna, TN
• Nissan Leaf
• Nissan Maxima
• Nissan Rogue
• Nissan Pathfinder
• Nissan Frontier
Nissan Canton Vehicle Assembly Plant – Canton, MS
• Nissan Altima
• Nissan Murano
• Nissan Frontier
• Nissan Titan
• Nissan NV
Nissan Aguascalientes – Aguascalientes, Mexico
• Nissan Sentra
• Nissan Vera
• Nissan Versa Note
• Nissan Micra
• Nissan NV
Nissan Tochigi Plant – Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
• Nissan 370Z
• Nissan GT-R
Nissan Shatai Kyushu Plant – Yukuhashi, Fukoka Prefecture, Japan
• Nissan Armada
Nissan Cuernavaca Assembly – Jiutepec, Mexico
• Nissan NV200

An Easy Choice

With so many of the models that you can choose from at Nissan being built in local plants, you can feel confident in what you choose. You’ll have a vehicle that’s built for the market that you live in and drive in on a daily basis. Check out what your nearby Nissan dealer has for you to drive and figure out which model is the right one for you to take out on the roads every day.