The new car 's model name was an acronym of the company 's investors ' surnames : It was renamed to '' ' Kaishinsha Motorcar Co. , Ltd. ' '' in 1918 , and again to '' ' DAT Jidosha & Co. , Ltd. ' '' ( DAT Motorcar Co. ) in 1925 . DAT Motors built trucks in addition to the DAT and Datsun passenger cars . The vast majority of its output were trucks , due to an almost non - existent consumer market for passenger cars at the time , and disaster recovery efforts as a result of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake . Beginning in 1918 , the first DAT trucks were produced for the military market . At the same time , '' ' Jitsuyo Jidosha Co. , Ltd. ' '' ( jitsuyo means practical use or utility ) produced small trucks using parts , and materials imported from the United States
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
Nissan