Editing Datsun (section)

===Datsun in Europe===
[[File:Datsun Cherry ca 1973 Schaffen-Diest 2017.jpg|thumb|right|Datsun Cherry 100A (E10, 1970–1977)]]

In 1935, the first Datsun-badged vehicle was shipped to Britain by car magnate Sir Herbert Austin. The vehicle, a Type 14, was never meant for the road or production, but was a part of a patent dispute as Austin saw a number of similarities to the car with the Austin 7 Ruby.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Edsall |first1=Larry |title=Classic Profile: 1935 Datsun Type 14 |url=https://journal.classiccars.com/2016/07/06/classic-profile-1935-datsun-type-14/ |website=The ClassicCars.com Journal |date=6 July 2016 |access-date=21 November 2018}}</ref> Nissan began exporting Datsun-badged cars to the United Kingdom in 1968, at which time foreign cars were a rarity, with only a small percentage of cars being imported &ndash; some of the most popular examples at the time including the [[Renault 16]] from France and [[Volkswagen Beetle]] from [[West Germany]]. The first European market that Nissan had entered was Finland, where sales began in 1962. Within a few years, it was importing cars to most of [[Western Europe]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.topgear.com/car-news/classic/history-lesson-datsun-name |title=History lesson: the Datsun name |work=Top Gear |location=UK |date=16 July 2013 |access-date=12 May 2017}}</ref>

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 [[Datsun Cherry|Cherry 100A]] and [[Datsun Sunny|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.<ref name="aro-b210">{{cite web |url=http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/other-cars/unsung-heroes-datsun-120y-sunny-b210/ |title=Unsung Heroes: Datsun 120Y (Sunny B210) |last=Adams |first=Keith |date=22 February 2012 |website=AROnline}}</ref>

By the early 1980s, the Nissan badge was gradually appearing on Datsun-badged cars, and eventually the Datsun branding was phased out, the final new car with a Datsun badge being the [[Nissan Micra|Micra]] supermini, launched in Britain from June 1983.<ref name="aro-1983">{{cite web |url=http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/blogs/1983-the-year-of-the-second-generation-supermini/ |title=Blog: 1983 — the year the supermini grew up |last=Adams |first=Keith |date=31 July 2013 |website=AROnline }}</ref> By the end of 1984, the Datsun branding had completely disappeared in Britain, although it lingered elsewhere until 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/reviews/nissan/ |title=Nissan {{!}} Classic Car Reviews |website=Honest John |access-date=12 May 2017}}</ref>