901: Nissan's ambitious strategy that birthed the R32 Skyline GT-R and sparked its dramatic fall

On 22 May 1989, Nissan unveiled the 8th generation Nissan Skyline, best known by its codename, R32. It revived the GT-R name after a 16-year hiatus and became a motoring version of a deity that is still highly coveted more than 30 years later.

By the end of the year, Nissan’s president, Yutaka Kume announced in his 1990 New Year’s address that the company achieved an all-time high of 1.322 million cars sold in 1989, taking 23.8% market share in the Japanese car market. Nissan was placed second with Toyota only leading ahead domestically but there was a possibility that there would be a new number 1 in the 1990s.

However, when the equally admired R34 Skyline GT-R was unveiled a decade later in 1999, Nissan was mostly in the red, especially in the latter half of the 1990s. It was still number 2 behind Toyota but demand and interest were slowly eroding as the year earlier saw Nissan reportedly losing JPY 30 billion which was 3 times its own estimate.

Though it might seem unthinkable that Nissan was experiencing near-bankruptcy in the 1990s given that so many legendary models were introduced around the time, it is these ambitious models that were partially the reason for the brand’s epic fall from grace that led to its eventual rescue from Renault.

Not everything from the Japanese Bubble Era is seen through rose-tinted lenses and as Nissan’s downfall shows, it is a tale of strong-willed ambition that paid dearly later. This is the story of Nissan’s 901 Movement, a successful vision that produced some of the most era-defining Japanese cars of the 1980s and ‘90s which nearly killed off the company.

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To be No. 1 by 1990

Nissan was undoubtedly a strong brand both domestically and internationally in the 1980s. It was constantly competing with Toyota in many markets in a bid to see which was the better Japanese carmaker and in the case of Malaysia, Nissan or Datsun as it was called then was the winner.

Though it had strong sales, the Nissans/Datsuns offered then were merely appliances that never really stirred up hearts whether by design or performance. The Japanese economy was growing and by the mid-eighties, it was the world’s second richest economy behind the United States.

That economic boom saw Japanese car buyers demanding better features and a more modern design which is what persuaded them to go for Toyotas instead. By comparison, Nissan’s outdated-looking models were just not attractive.

Nissan’s focus in the early 1980s was on global expansion, particularly in the West. It was one of the first Japanese carmakers to set up a plant in the United Kingdom with the opening of the Sunderland plant in 1984.

Even with further market expansion, Nissan’s existing line-up was nothing more than boring – if it can’t appeal to domestic buyers, why would it appeal to international consumers? So, a new plan was set in motion to transform Nissan’s image and to further stand out even more from Toyota.

The goal of the 901 Movement was to make Nissan number 1 in the world in automotive technology by 1990. The plan focused on the advanced development of chassis, engines, suspension, handling, design, and quality on all its models.

The ambitious project was announced by then-president, Yutaka Kume in 1985. That same year at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Nissan showed off what it could be capable of by unveiling the MID4 sports car, a Japanese Ferrari fighter that predated the Honda NSX.

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Underneath the MID4 was technology that Nissan would eventually introduce in some of its production models by the end of the 1980s. However, the first true beginning of the 901 Movement came at the 1985 Tokyo Motor Show a few months later.

The retro-inspired Nissan Be-1 hatchback helped to kick start Nissan’s quirky range of Pike Cars that would later see 3 more models introduced (Pao, S-Cargo, Figaro) in the next few years. Its unique design and limited number of units helped to enhance the appeal of Nissan to buyers but this was only the beginning of the 901 Movement.

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From a modular sports car to the R32

Less than a year after Nissan unveiled the Be-1, Nissan introduced the third-generation Pulsar (N13) which was sold in Malaysia as the second-generation Sentra. It was given a modern European design but the most interesting variant from this generation was the EXA.

The Nissan EXA was a modular coupe with interchangeable panels and was also available as a 3-door station wagon. The Pulsar also bagged Nissan’s first Japan Car of the Year award and became the first production model introduced under the 901 Movement.

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Following the Pulsar, the Nissan Terrano was introduced a few months later and it shook the traditional 4WD market. The Terrano was one of the first family-friendly SUVs introduced in Japan though it would eventually lose out in popularity to the Mitsubishi Pajero.

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Nissan also brought some coolness to its flagship sedan model thanks to the 901 Movement. The Y31 Cedric and Gloria not only brought appeal to older buyers but younger ones as well with the hardtop variants (pillarless 4-door saloons in Japanese context) as well as the high-performance turbocharged Gran Turismo.

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For the U12 Bluebird, Nissan introduced the ATTESA 4WD system that would eventually make its way to other Nissan models like the Godzilla duo of the R32 Skyline GT-R and Pulsar GTi-R. The U12 Bluebird was available as both a traditional 4-door sedan and hardtop body styles as well as a sports sedan variant called the SSS and a rally-homologated version called the SSS-R.

A year before Lexus launched the LS in 1989, Nissan introduced the Cima in Japan and it was a successful luxury car with 64,000 units sold in its first year of introduction. The V6-powered luxury sedan was developed hastily in response to Toyota developing a larger version of the Crown but what Nissan produced became such a phenomenon that it became the symbol of the Japanese bubble era.

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4 months after the Cima debuted, the S13 Silvia was launched in May 1988 with a sleek design over an enthusiast-approved rear-wheel drive (RWD) layout. The S13 was a fashionable personal coupe that was offered in trims named after playing cards.

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As seen in the Maxima, Nissan’s 901 Movement was also aimed at overseas markets. The J30 Maxima replaced its stodgy predecessor with a modern design and ample cabin space that made it more appealing than the Camry and Accord at the time.

The A31 Cefiro and C33 Laurel built on the Cima’s luxury features with an added bit of sportiness. The former is the flagship Nissan model in global markets where the Infiniti brand was absent while the latter was only available in Japan as the A31’s hardtop relative.

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Like the J30 Maxima, the Z32 300ZX was prioritized for overseas markets, in this case, North America where the Z car was synonymous with affordable sports cars. The Z32's futuristic and sleek design completely elevated the appeal of the Z along with its high-tech features.

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The Z32 and R32 which debuted in the same month marked the peak of Nissan’s 901 Movement. Nissan has already proven itself in the 5 years since the strategy was announced and entering 1990, it seemed to be achieving the goal of being number 1. As they say, the sky is the limit and for Nissan that seemed to be the case as it entered the final decade of the 20th century.

Racing into the 90s…

The 901 Movement continued well into 1990. The Infiniti brand was launched in the United States with the Q45 which was also the basis for the third generation Nissan President, Nissan’s JDM flagship rival against the Toyota Century which maintained the original 1967 design at the time.

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Though the B13 Sunny is more known in Malaysia as the infamous Genting Taxi and in Mexico where production continued for 25 years as the Nissan Tsuru, it was among the most comfortable sedans in its class when launched.

Despite being front-wheel drive, the first Nissan Primera was considered one of the best-handling sedans of the early 1990s. It competed in various touring car races in Japan and Europe while one of the engineers in the development team was Kazutoshi Mizuno who would later become the chief developer of the R35 GT-R.

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Then came the N14 Pulsar which did not really set the world on fire like its predecessor, but it spawned the greatest Nissan hot hatch ever in the guise of the Pulsar GTi-R. Though it has the Baby Godzilla nickname, it did not perform as well in motorsports like its bigger brother. Even with the lack of sporting pedigree, it remains a cult Japanese classic.

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While small hatchbacks are not really Nissan’s speciality, the K11 March drew plenty of appeal and comparisons with the original Mini. The second-generation March would receive huge success in the UK as one of the most popular hatchbacks of the 1990s.

The March was considered one of the last models introduced as part of the 901 Movement plan. Japan would face a recession in the coming years and Nissan would be caught in the eye of the storm over the next few years.

…And crashing by ‘99

The Japanese Bubble Economy period only lasted for 5 years between 1986 to 1991 which was also around the same time that Nissan introduced the 901 Movement. During this period, Japanese assets and stock prices saw a huge boom which resulted in the country’s value skyrocketing.

As a result, many Japanese companies began investing in assets all around the world fuelled by the high speculative prices. This led to a stock market bubble known as zaitech or financial engineering which sees speculation becoming an integral part of Japanese corporate earnings.

Nissan was involved in this speculation tactic and banked heavily on Japanese consumers’ spending. It launched around 30 new models within a span of 5 years under the 901 Movement and each model received positive feedback from the media and consumers.

But when the bubble burst in 1992, consumers stopped spending and Nissan took a major hit. It wasn’t the only Japanese carmaker to face such a situation; Mazda was struggling just as much when it prematurely launched 3 new sub-brands just when the country's economy was about to tank.

In 1990, Nissan launched 3 new models and 4 new facelifts in Japan. Two years later, Nissan launched only one new model, the K11 March as well as posting losses for the first time since its listing on the Japanese stock exchange.

Following that year’s losses, Yutaka Kume, Nissan’s President who announced the 901 Movement in 1985 announced that he was stepping down. His successor, Yoshifumi Tsuji basically took over a sinking ship and announced cost-cutting measures to try and plug the hole including layoffs and the closure of plants.

However, Nissan was still in the red in all but one year of his 4-year stint as company president. The new models introduced during this period did not sell well despite some receiving support initially. Eventually, the beleaguered carmaker was forced to find a foreign partner with one of the initial choices being Daimler but it was Renault that formed an alliance instead in 1999.

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These days, the 901 Movement is seen as a forgotten business plan that receive few retrospective outside of Japan. It was an unfulfilled plan since Nissan never made it to number one by 1990, settling for second place and staying there until it slipped even further down as the years went by.

Many years after the Renault-Nissan alliance, the saviour that finally steered Nissan away into oblivion turned into an internationally-wanted fugitive.

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However, the 901 Movement produced some of the greatest cars to bear the Nissan logo. From the quirky Pike Cars to the road monster that is the R32 Skyline GT-R, most of them are considered classics from a period when the strong and seemingly invincible Japanese economy fuelled their development and eventual production.