Less than a year after handing over the reins to a successor, Nidec Corp. Chairman Shigenobu Nagamori regrets appointing Jun Seki as CEO and has sidelined his deputy by sending him outside Japan, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Nagamori, 77, told senior managers in a message late last year that it was naive of him to bring in someone from outside and appoint that person as successor, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
Nagamori recruited Seki, 60, a former Nissan Motor Co. executive, two years ago to help grow the manufacturer’s presence in the market for electric-vehicle motors, a key part of the company’s goal of reaching ¥10 trillion ($88 billion) in annual net sales by fiscal 2030.