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Nissan has announced that this past June marked an important milestone in the company's 73-year history: 100,000,000 vehicles built.

It all started in 1933 when Nissan, under the name "Jidosha-Seizo Co., Ltd" (Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd), manufactured its first automobile, a Datsun 12 (example above). The following year, the company name was officially changed to Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. In 1935, the Yokohama Plant became the first facility in Japan to mass-produce automobiles. The rest, as they say, is history.

Today, Nissan produces cars and trucks in facilities worldwide, and aims to continue improving quality and productivity as it sets its sights on future milestones. 100,000,000 is a lot of cars. Many of them were and are basic transportation devices used by the masses. Some of them have become icons in their own right, and today there are future stars on the horizon, demonstrating that as fun as it can be to reflect on the past, Nissan continues to look forward. Congratulations are in order.

(Additional info after the jump)

[Source: Nissan]



PRESS RELEASE:

NISSAN REACHES 100 MILLIONTH PRODUCTION MILESTONE

TOKYO (July 24, 2006)-Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today announced it reached a new milestone in June with the production of its 100 millionth vehicle. Since its establishment in 1933, Nissan has produced about 76,640,000 vehicles in Japan and about 23,500,000 vehicles overseas. As of the end of June, Nissan's total global production stood at about 100,140,000 vehicles.

"On behalf of Nissan, I would like to thank all our employees and customers around the world for their support without whom this important milestone would not have been possible," said Tadao Takahashi, executive vice president of manufacturing at Nissan. "We will continue to improve quality and productivity as well as shorten delivery times for customers, utilizing the Nissan Production Way, in order to realize our next 100 millionth milestone."

Nissan was established in December 1933 under the name "Jidosha-Seizo Co., Ltd." (Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) after taking over operations for manufacturing small-size Datsun passenger cars from Tobata Casting Co., Ltd. The first car produced by Nissan under the Jidosha-Seizo name was a Datsun Type 12. The company name was changed to "Nissan Motor Co., Ltd." the following year.

In 1935, Nissan began operations at its Yokohama Plant, the first plant in Japan to mass-produce automobiles, and went on to play a pioneering role in Japan's early automobile industry.

Production capacity in Japan grew further with the start of vehicle assembly at the Oppama Plant in 1962, the Zama Plant in 1965, the Murayama Plant in 1966 (after the company merged with Prince Motor Co., Ltd., a major Japanese automaker, that same year), the Tochigi Plant in 1971, and the Kyushu Plant in 1976.

Nissan's first began producing vehicles overseas in 1959 in Taiwan. In 1966, the company began production in Mexico, followed by production in the US and Spain in 1983, the UK in 1986 and China in 1995.

The company's manufacturing plants, including the Sunderland plant in the UK, the Smyrna plant in Tenn., US, and the Canton plant in Miss., US, are today among the most efficient vehicle assembly plants in the world. Nissan led the North American auto industry in manufacturing efficiency in the 2006 Harbour Report, with an overall measurement of 28.46 labor hours per vehicle.

The following are Nissan's major global production major milestones:

1942 100,000 vehicles
1962 1,000,000 vehicles
1969 5,000,000 vehicles
1972 10,000,000 vehicles
1988 50,000,000 vehicles
1992 60,000,000 vehicles
1995 70,000,000 vehicles
1999 80,000,000 vehicles
2003 90,000,000 vehicles
2006 100,000,000 vehicles