Monday 8th September 1986

Continuing its enormous expansion of the 1970s and early ’80s, the Nissan Motor Company Ltd. opened its Sunderland, England, plant, the first Japanese automobile factory in Europe. Established in 1933 as the Jidosha Seizo Company, Nissan remained a mid-size automobile manufacturer until it entered the world market in the 1960s, when its sales grew by leaps and bounds. Nissan, as well as several other Japanese manufacturers, continued to grow through the next decade, propelled by the increasing popularity of their fuel-efficient cars. Nissan eventually opened plants in Australia, Peru, Mexico, the United States, and Germany.