I don't think the early Datsuns and such out'a Japan into the
North American market where the Japanese "A" game, but
they improved quickly once they had a toe hold in the market
place. Now the Honda Civic and the Toyota Camry are two
of the highest quality made cars in North America.
Ron
In 1973 I bought a Datsun 510. That car, with it's rear wheel drive, independent suspension all around, disk brakes, overhead cam engine, etc, was a copy of the BMW and on the race track it creamed BMW and Alpha Romeo. At the time it was the best car I'd ever owned. To this day, American automakers have never responded to that car.