Nissan Group
| Public | |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | Japan (1928) |
| Founder | Yoshisuke Aikawa |
| Headquarters | Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan |
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Area served
|
Worldwide |
| Products | Industrial machinery, telecommunications, power plants, information systems, electronics, automotive, materials, financial services, construction |
Nissan Group (日産コンツェルン Nissan Kontserun?, "Nissan Concern"), or formerly Nissan zaibatsu, is one of 15 of Japan's most powerful business groupings. Founded in 1928 by Yoshisuke Aikawa, the group was originally a holding company created as an offshoot of Kuhara Mining Co.(present day Nippon Mining & Metals Company), which Aikawa had taken over as president of from his brother-in-law, Fusanosuke Kuhara. After the bankruptcy of the Kuhara zaibatsu following World War I, Aikawa reorganized its assets into (Japan Industries) or Nippon Sangyo Corporation (日本産業株式会社 Nippon Sangyō Kabushiki Kaisha), Nissan for short.
The group's core business was real estate and insurance with hundreds of member companies, including fisheries, mining companies, and is affiliated with Hitachi Group companies, as well as what Nissan is now known for—its automobile industry. After World War II, the zaibatsu was disbanded, and reformed into Nichiyo-kai, otherwise known as Nissan Group.
Although the Nissan name was primarily known for its car manufacturing outside Japan, Nissan Motors was a comparatively small side business compared to its core real estate business until the real estate crash of the early 1990s (see Japanese asset price bubble). Like the similar subprime crisis, the crash dealt a devastating blow to the Nissan Group by leaving it with several hundred billions of dollars of debt.
The Nissan Group has long since shed the majority of its real estate assets, and has focused on manufacturing and insurance. Nissan Motors was given more independence as Renault SA of France bought a 38.8% stake for $5.4 billion in Nissan Motors (日産自動車株式会社) in 1999 and installed Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn of Brazil. Its successful turnaround was attributed by CEO Ghosn to his ability to detach it from Nissan keiretsu connections and debt and eliminate 23,000 jobs from the Japanese workforce.
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