Press Play with Madeleine Brand

How Yutaka Katayama Taught Americans to Love Japanese Cars

Some of the best-selling cars in America are Japanese brands. In fact, American pickup trucks are the only vehicles that can top Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan. And you can thank one man for a lot of the craze: Yutaka Katayama, the first president of Nissan in the U.S.

By Madeleine Brand • Mar 10, 2015 • 1 min read

Some of the best-selling cars in America are Japanese brands. In fact, American pickup trucks are the only vehicles that can top Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan. And you can thank one man for a lot of the craze: Yutaka Katayama, the first president of Nissan in the U.S. He recently passed away, and we talk about his legacy in this week’s installment of our regular car segment.

Madeleine Brand
Host, 'Press Play'
Jolie Myers
Managing Producer, 'Press Play'
Matt Holzman
Producer, 'The Document'
Anna Scott
Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter
Aaron Robinson
Editor at Large, Hagerty magazine

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Press Play with Madeleine Brand

How Yutaka Katayama Taught Americans to Love Japanese Cars

Some of the best-selling cars in America are Japanese brands. In fact, American pickup trucks are the only vehicles that can top Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan. And you can thank one man for a lot of the craze: Yutaka Katayama, the first president of Nissan in the U.S.

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Press Play with Madeleine Brand

How Yutaka Katayama Taught Americans to Love Japanese Cars

Some of the best-selling cars in America are Japanese brands. In fact, American pickup trucks are the only vehicles that can top Japanese brands like Toyota, Honda and Nissan. And you can thank one man for a lot of the craze: Yutaka Katayama, the first president of Nissan in the U.S.

Share