Nissan Motor Co

A fledgling Japanese automobile company asked a veteran German auto maker to suggest a name for its new car. "We need a name no later than tomorrow," said the Japanese official. "Dat soon?" replied the surprised German. And Nissan's famous Datsun series was born. Such jokes were told everywhere in the 1960s, even on radio and TV, and Nissan Motor Co. USA was delighted. "The jokes were of great help in extending our sales," says Yutaka Katayama, or "Mr. K" as he is known in Datsun circles.

Nissan Motor Co. is cutting the sticker price on seven of its 18 models in the U.S. Nissan is hoping that the change will help the cars and SUVs show up more prominently on shopper search websites such as AutoTrader, Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book. Some analysts had speculated that Nissan was taking advantage of a weak yen to charge lower prices. The yen has depreciated more than 20% in relation to the U.S. dollar in the last four months. PHOTOS: Kelley Blue Book's top 10 green cars for 2013 But Nissan denies that the changes are related to currency exchange rates.

Profit at Japanese automaker Nissan slipped 14% in its fiscal first quarter compared with the same period a year ago as it wrote down the value of its assets to accommodate new Japanese accounting rules. Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday that group net income for the three months ended June 30 totaled 105.7 billion yen, or $949 million, down from 123.23 billion yen a year earlier. A charge for a new pension plan also eroded Japan's No.

French auto maker Renault said Tuesday that it will build Renault-badged cars at new partner Nissan Motor Co.'s underused factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico, to boost its Mexican sales and cut each company's costs. Renault, which said Saturday that it would invest $5.4 billion in Nissan, sees no need to close any of its existing factories, Chief Executive Louis Schweitzer told reporters in New York.

Nissan Motor Co. confirmed Wednesday that it will build a $900-million assembly plant outside Jackson, Miss., that people familiar with the plans said will employ more than 3,000 workers. Nissan said in a statement that details about its new plant, which will be built in Canton, would be discussed at a news conference in Jackson this morning. The Japanese auto maker said it would make a "significant announcement regarding North American production." No details were available.