Nidec Corp., the world’s top supplier of motors for everything from hard drives to power plants, is betting it can make a key component for Tesla Inc.’s electric vehicles (EVs) cheaper and better than anyone else — possibly including its chief executive officer, Elon Musk.
"I very much want to have a top-level discussion with Elon Musk,” said Jun Seki, Nidec’s president and chief operating officer, in an interview. Without an outside partner, Tesla won’t be able to achieve Musk’s goal of producing 20 million EVs a year by 2030, he said.
It’s an audacious overture to a company that flirted last week with being the world’s most valuable, making Musk the richest man, but Nidec isn’t just any ordinary parts supplier.