What Is The Difference Between Nissan And Datsun?

Until 1986, the name "Nissan" wasn't as well-known as it is today outside of Japan. That's because between 1958 and 1986, with a few exceptions you couldn't get a Nissan if you were a foreign customer. Instead, you got a Datsun — including the best Datsuns ever made – until Nissan phased out the name in a costly move to consolidate its marketing under a single banner. 

The reason "Datsun" was never used in Japan has to do with its pronunciation. The name relates to the original DAT motor vehicle, named for the initials of the fledgling company's three original investors (surnames Den, Aoyama and Takeuchi, or DAT), and called Datson, or "Son of DAT." The term "son" in Japanese, however, spells the kanji 損, which literally means "loss, unprofitable." As such, while outside of Japan it's pronounced "Dat-sin" or "Dat-son," the Japanese wording is spelled ダットサン, or "Datto-san" — meaning "Mr. Fleeing Rabbit" –to avoid the controversial pronunciation. 

Other than the name, though, is there any measurable difference between a Datsun and Nissan? And why was the Datsun name used at all? Let's dive in and check it out.

Because Datsun is nothing more than a foreign trade name, the cars shared common underpinnings right down to their powertrains. Take the Fairlady Z, for example. The U.S. commonly refers to this car as the Datsun Z-car, with a numerical prefix added such as the 240Z, 260Z, or 280Z to denote engine displacement. 

Its original Japanese name, Fairlady, comes from the Broadway musical "My Fair Lady," a play then-company-president Katsuji Kawamata enjoyed. Meanwhile, his U.S.-based counterpart, Yutaka Katayama (known simply as Mr. K, and unofficial father of the original Z-car's design), felt the name would never stick in America — so much so that, as David Halberstam reported in "The Reckoning" (via Autopian), his import team ripped every "Fairlady" badge off the cars when they arrived Stateside. The point being, with these more upscale models, there is no fundamental difference between a Nissan and Datsun other than the steering wheel's location.

The real change comes from Japanese versus U.S. regulations. Because Japan taxes cars based on engine displacement, this makes smaller, higher-revving powerplants far more appealing because they're less expensive to inspect and register. So Nissan offers many Japan-only engine options in vehicles otherwise only fitted with engines over 2,000 cubic centimeters. This goes back to the earliest Fairlady/240Z models, with the smallest available displacement for U.S. markets being 2.4L versus Japan's 2.0L. Otherwise, most Nissans and Datsuns share common powertrains and parts-compatibility throughout the model ranges.

The answer goes back to the post-World War II economy. The "Japanese Economic Miracle" restarted Japan's vehicle industry, with most manufacturers today operating in less than a decade (such as Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Subaru). However, the Japanese demanded inexpensive, compact, practical cars, many of which used tiny engines, some less than 360cc. Naturally, these didn't do well on American roads, giving Japanese cars a reputation for being cheap, small, and slow. 

Enter Nissan, a company literally named after its origin country (its original long form, Nihon Sangyo, translates to "Japan Industries"), which faced an uphill battle in marketing to a postwar America. Meanwhile, Nissan bought the original DAT company, with the newly formed Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. retaining ownership of the "Datsun" name. Nissan continued Japanese Datsun production successfully with hits like the Japanese-market Datsun Bluebird  eventually lasting multiple decades.

And therein lay the solution for Nissan's export business. With the Datsun name already established, Nissan rebranded itself from 1958 to 1986 in foreign markets to avoid the 1950s Japanese car industry's soured reputation. Therefore, almost all export Nissans became Datsuns, apart from a few exceptions like the Maxima and Sentra. This led to early confusion, with press criticizing the company's name change as late as the 1990s. But the Nissan name stuck, and the "Datsun" name in the U.S. today is relegated to vintage automobiles, aside from referring to Datsun's failed relaunch in India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa.