The Nissan Motor Company was originally founded as the Kwaishinsha Company in 1911. Its first car, the DAT car, was released in 1914 and was named after its founders Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Aoyama, Meitaro Surnames Takeuchi, creating an acronym using the first letter of each. In 1921 the Kwaishinsha Company merged with Jitsuyo Jidosha Co. under the name DAT Automobile Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Ten years later DAT created the first Datsun darling a few years before control was taken over by Nissan (Funding Universe). After Nissan took control of DAT, it produced the Datsun car until the start of World War II. “During this war the company moved into war production, building military trucks, engines for fighter planes and torpedo boats.” (Beyman). Once the war was over, Nissan continued to produce trucks until it continued production of the Datsun car two years later. In 1951 Nissan finally became a public company. Between the years 1959-1966 Nissan produced 3 new cars, the Bluebird, the Cedric and the Sunny. With the release of these cars, Nissan's sales increased and this helped it expand internationally due to the popularity of the cars. 1966 also marked the year Nissan merged with Prince Motor Company Ltd. In 1959 Nissan created its own subsidies in the United States but did not see its full market potential until the oil crisis of 1973. It was this crisis that attracted the customers to their markets. more fuel-efficient vehicles that have brought Nissan great success in the US market. (Answers.com) Until 1981 the Nissan company was still known as Datsun in the 1980s. Nissan's direct competitors, Toyota and Honda, both worked in the luxury car class. To stay competitive, Nissan launched its Infiniti lin...... middle of paper...... Volt car. Retrieved May 19, 2011, from The Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2009/0811/nissan-laughs-off-threat-from-chevy-voltWoelfel, J. (2011, May 12 ). Nissan will see full production by October. Retrieved May 25, 2011, from The Street: http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/11116414/1/nissan-sees-full-output-by-october.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NAYahoo Finance. (2011, May 25). Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. Retrieved May 2011, 2011, from Yahoo Finance: http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=NSANY.PK+Interactive#chart1:symbol=nsany.pk;range=1y;indicator= volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=unDefinitoZhou, M. (2008, April 24). MarketWatch. Retrieved May 19, 2011, from Gasoline Could Hit $7 a Gallon in Four Years: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gasoline-could-hit-7-oil-could-double-in-four-years- cibc -he says