Datsun was particularly successful on the British market. It sold just over 6,000 cars there as late as 1971, but its sales surged to more than 30,000 the following year and continued to climb over the next few years, with well-priced products including the Cherry 100A and Sunny 120Y proving particularly popular, at a time when the British motor industry was plagued by strikes and British Leyland in particular was gaining a reputation for building cars which had major issues with build quality and reliability. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Nissan frequently enjoyed the largest market share in Britain of any foreign carmaker.
Datsun was particularly successful on the British market It sold just over 6000 cars there as late as 1971 but its sales surged to more than 30000 the following year and continued to climb over the next few years with well-priced products including the Cherry 100A and Sunny 120Y proving particularly popular at a time when the British motor industry was plagued by strikes and British Leyland in particular was gaining a reputation for building cars which had major issues with build quality and reliability During the 1970s and early 1980s Nissan frequently enjoyed the largest market share in Britain of any foreign carmaker