Nissan Z-car preceded it, the first-gen 300ZX was thought by enthusiasts as more GT than true sports car. It had improved handling, acceleration, and refinement than any previous model Z-car. Nissan made various changes and claimed improvements to the Z31 model through its entire production. In 1983 Nissan first offered the 300ZX in Japan. It was introduced in the US one year later. All US-market 1984 model Nissan vehicles carried both Datsun and Nissan nameplates. Along with the arrival of their new flagship sports coupe, Nissan launched an aggressive marketing campaign to promote the brand name change from Datsun to Nissan. The
Automotive Energy Supply Corporation a further ¥100 billion ($1.1 billion) in AESC, establishing an additional factory to increase capacity for around 200,000 vehicles per year. Trial production at Zama began mid 2009. In 2010 the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle began production, using batteries from AESC. In 2014 AESC was the second largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer worldwide (after Panasonic), with 21% of the market. In late 2014 Reuters reported conflict within the Nissan / Renault carmaker alliance over sourcing of battery packs for its Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK and Nissan Smyrna assembly plant (USA) car battery plants due to lack of price competitiveness with