The Sunny was sold in Japan at a dedicated dealership sales channel called Nissan Satio Store, and rebadged versions later appeared at the other Japanese networks.

The Sunny was an all-new product built on a dedicated platform called the "B" series that benefited from Nissan's production of small cars since before the war and combined engineering efforts from newly acquired Aichi Manufacturing that met the goals set by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry "national car" program.

These were available in both a "Standard" and "Deluxe" version, featuring drum brakes, conventional leaf springs at the rear and wishbone type independent front end.

The Sunny was engineered by newly acquired Aichi Machine Industry Co., Ltd., and gave the new acquisition the ability to demonstrate their profitability to their new Nissan owners.

The two companies continued a game of one-upmanship which had started when Toyota gave the Corolla an 1,100 cc engine and prominently featured the additional displacement over its Sunny rival.

[9] Predictably, Nissan responded by giving the second generation Sunny a 1,200 cc engine and a somewhat controversial marketing campaign with the theme "the car next to me looks small.

"[10][11] The Datsun 1200 featured MacPherson strut front suspension with optional disc brakes and an economical 1.2-litre A12-series engine, an enlarged version of the A10 used in the B10-series Sunny.

[14] In New Zealand, a special edition Datsun 1200 SSS four-door sedan with twin side-draft Dell'Orto 40 mm carburetors, different camshaft, 5-slot aluminium wheels and cosmetic changes in both exterior and interior, it was assembled and marketed locally, about 800 were made.

At the Tokyo Motor Show, 19 October 1972, a Sunny Excellent with Nissan's two-rotor Wankel rotary engine was exhibited, but never entered production.

The main ones were a five-speed manual gearbox, power assisted disc brakes, and a roof height extension to accommodate taller South Africans.

The coupé retained its fastback styling, but now featured a full hatchback door rather than the small trunk lid of the previous generation Sunny.

Although regular production in Japan as well as sales in most countries ended in late 1977 for the 1978 model year, the B210 series continued to be produced by Nissan South Africa through 1980.

[29] The 1978 B210 (American model) with five-speed transmission was rated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency at 50 mpg‑US (4.7 L/100 km; 60 mpg‑imp) highway fuel economy.

The 120Y was assembled from kits in Melbourne, Australia and boasted disc brakes (although not power assisted), alternator, 4 speed gearbox, radial tyres, radio and mud flaps as standard, most of which were options on other makes.

[35] The design received a certain amount of criticism, with Car Styling Quarterly calling it old-fashioned and dumpy at the rear, while the plastic detailing was referred to as overworked.

[38] The body was designed to provide fewer moisture traps, helping protect the car against rust, while added width meant additional space, particularly for the rear seat passengers.

The vans retained the old design, but their chassis codes (unlike the passenger models) changed from 310 to 311 to reflect that they met new emissions standards in place for light commercials.

In most other markets the more traditional two-box wagon was offered, either alone or alongside the fastback, and some countries where "no rear side glass" was part of a legal definition of a "light truck" got panelled-in versions of the three-door.

The van versions also differed in that they retained the leaf spring suspension from the B210, and in most markets had a more spartan interior trim with vinyl covered seats.

[40] At the time of introduction all models, excepting the wagon with the automatic transmission, received the carryover 1.4 litre A14 engine with 65 hp (48 kW).

The B11 series shared its engines and much of its underpinnings with the Nissan Pulsar (N12) which launched around the same time, effectively providing the hatchback body style in this size class which in the European market was becoming the widely preferred configuration.

The Laurel Spirit was offered in four trim packages, starting with the LT, LT-G, LF, XJ, and the XJ-E denoting a fuel injected E15E engine.

It was introduced at Nissan Store locations and went on to be sold globally, although this concept did not take off in Europe until the huge success of the Renault Scénic in the late 1990s.

The B11 series was regarded as one of Nissan's most modern ranges at the time, and was the first to abandon the Datsun name formally (though a small 'Datsun' still appeared on boot lids for the first two years).

[46] In Chile it was mainly sold with the E13 and E15 engines, although a handful of the turbocharged 1.6 were also delivered as the "Sunny Ninja Turbo" and the 1.7-litre diesel was available in the sedan model for a few years.

[citation needed] The angular styling was insisted upon by Nissan's design chief at the time and contributed to the automaker's increasingly poor sales of the period.

It was marketed as a completely different model from the Tsuru (Sunny sedan) and it was Nissan's sports flagship car as it was even offered with a low-boost Turbo.

In Mexico, the Nissan Tsuru was until 2017 the best-selling car in its category, as it is much bigger and has cheaper maintenance than its direct competitors: the Pointer and the Chevrolet Chevy C2.

The Sentra B15 took styling cues from the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy (G10/N16), while the Sunny B15 body had a more traditional squared-off three-box sedan design.

However, Renault acquired Samsung Motors and announced that the R-Car would be rebranded as the SM3, although it ended up being based on the related Nissan Bluebird Sylphy.