It’s well known that Crasstalk is a favorite source of reading material for the world’s auto executives. Don’t believe me? Well it’s no coincidence that we published a post last year begging Nissan to bring back the Datsun and then just yesterday the company announced that they are indeed resurrecting the Datsun brand.
From Business Week:
Datsuns are back. Well, kind of. Nissan (NSANY ) on March 21 announced that it’s reviving the once-popular brand, phased out in 1981—but only in Russia, India, and Indonesia.
Question is, why did the brand ever die? Back in the 1960s and ’70s, Datsun cars and trucks were a global favorite—especially in America when gas prices soared following the Arab oil embargo of 1973. Datsun was consistently one of two top-selling Japanese brands in the U.S., the other being Toyota (TM ).
So the company is bringing back the Datsun brand, but not in the U.S. OK, I guess we weren’t specific enough the first time. Still, this makes me happy. Maybe they can bring back cheaper Datsun-badged versions of the 280Z or 510. We can only hope.
Photos via Flickr.
