SMYRNA, Tenn. (WTVF) — These days, you can't drive very far around Middle Tennessee or go to many sporting events, without seeing Nissan's name in lights. But back in 1980, some of our own reporters weren't even sure how to pronounce the automaker's name.
That's when the Japanese car manufacturer made their selection for their first North American assembly plant. "Nashville is the best place to have a plant located," said Marvin Runyon, the CEO of Nissan North America at the time.
Runyon explained to reporters at the time that they picked a stretch of farmland in rural Rutherford County due to the central location of the Nashville area. They picked Smyrna over an Atlanta suburb.
But at the official groundbreaking in 1981, things got off to a bumpy start. "They’re upset about the lack of union workers hired to build this plant — and they let everybody know it with signs, placards, even a circling airplane all saying Boycott Datson," reported then-NewsChannel 5 reporter Pat Nolan, during a WTVF broadcast.
A group of protesters even let the air out of the tires on the pickup truck that was supposed to officially break the ground on the plant. "Bringing in a new entity to Nashville always is unknown," said David Ewing, a local historian. "There were people that really didn’t welcome in Nissan as much as they should have been welcomed."
On May 17, 1983, marked the first day employees showed up for work. Later that summer, to trumpet fanfare, the first Datsun trucks rolled off the assembly line. "Made in Tennessee means quality," said then-Gov. Lamar Alexander, who helped negotiate Nissan's relocation to Smyrna.
Over the years, other Nissan vehicles have debuted in Smyrna too — the first Sentra began production in 1985, the Altima was added in 1992 and then the Pathfinder SUV in 2004.
"This actually was a groundbreaking move not only for Nissan, but for a lot of other car companies," explained Ewing.
According to Ewing, without Nissan, there may not be a General Motors plant in Spring Hill, a Volkswagen assembly line in Chattanooga or a soon-to-open Ford Blue Oval City in West Tennessee. "When Nissan moved here, you have this industry of parts and other things that went into cars that also moved here too," he said.
That makes Nissan's presence around town, that much more impressive when you consider how it all began. "This has been one of the great things that has happened to Nashville and Middle Tennessee in the last 40 years," said Ewing.
The Town of Smyrna is planning an official reception to celebrate Nissan's 40 years in Middle Tennessee, later this summer.
