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Nissan (official name Nissan Motor Company Ltd.) is a a multinational company based in Japan - the eighth largest producer of cars and LCVs in the world (OICA, 2009). Nissan was established in 1928 as a holding company named Nippon Sangyo. It was listed with abbreviation in the Tokyo stock market, which ended up in being Nissan in the 1930s. By WWII it included 74 companies and was Japan's fourth largest concern. In 1931 Nissan bought shares from DAT Motors, which it merged with its own Tobata Casting in 1933. This is the year in which the company officially entered the automobile manufacturing market. DAT Motors was established in 1914 as a truck manufacturer. Its name was an abbreviation of the family names of its founders. In 1931 it produced the first supermini Datson car (the "son" of the already existing larger DAT car). When Nissan took control of Dat Motors, the name of the car was changed to Datsun, as "son" in Japanese meant "loss". In 1934 the car production division was separated as a new subsidiary called Nissan Motor Co. It was in the 1950s that the company endeavored a huge expansion overseas - first in America and then in Europe through several alliances. It started with the introduction of the small Datsun car. Then in 1966 Nissan entered the upmarket segment by merging with Prince Motor Company and its flagship models Skyline and Gloria. Through constant incorporation of the latest technical achievements and its appealing Italianate design Nissan became one of the world's largest exporters of automobiles by 1970s. Some of the most noteworthy Nissan models of that time were the Datsun Fairlady roadster, Datsun 510, Datsun 240Z and the 411 series. The 1970s oil crisis lead to an increasing the demand of quality small cars, which resulted in further worldwide expansion of Nissan. In 1986 the Datsun name was dropped. In 1989 the company launched its new luxury brand Infinity. Ten yeas later, in 1999, due to severe financial problems Nissan made an alliance with Renault and the company's CEO Carlos Ghosn launched his Nissan Revival Plan, which is considered to be one of the most impressive corporate twists in history. The current Nissan portfolio includes the following sedans: Altima, Bluebird Sylphy, Cedric Y31, Tiida, Teana, Sentra, Maxima, Fuga; hatchbacks: Rogue, Note; coupes: Altima, 370Z/Z34 (also a roadster), Skyline GT-R; pick-up trucks: Navara (Frontier); SUVs: Armada, X-TRAIL, Xterra, Pathfinder, Qashqai, Patrol, Murano, Juke; MPVs: Note, Elgrand, Cube. Technical specifications and details for particular models by Nissan may be examined by clicking on the model name from the list below.