Nissan Motor Co’s third-highest-ranked executive is planning to leave the company to join a leading electric-motor company, an abrupt move that deals yet another blow to the scandal-plagued Japanese automaker.
Nissan shares fell to their lowest in eight years.
Jun Seki, the vice chief operating officer in charge of Nissan’s performance recovery, plans to join Japanese manufacturer Nidec Corp as president and chief operating officer.
The 58-year-old, who confirmed the move to Bloomberg News, was among the contenders to be Nissan’s chief executive officer in October, but missed out to Makoto Uchida, who was the company’s China chief.
Seki only took up his current position this month.
Nissan has seen its share of executive departures since last year’s shock arrest of former long-time chief executive Carlos Ghosn, but Seki’s exit stands out, because he was part of a triumvirate set up to disperse leadership responsibilities at the automaker, Japan’s third-largest by output.
The defection marks yet another distraction for Nissan, which is struggling to recover from the chaos unleashed by Ghosn’s arrest and an industry downturn, with profits at a decade-low and relations tense with French partner Renault SA.
The departure of Seki, who spent most of his career in engineering and manufacturing at Nissan, came at a precarious time for the company and the auto sector, with established automakers seeking scale through consolidation as a way of splitting the billions of US dollars in investments needed to keep up with the shift toward electric and self-driving vehicles.
Nissan shares fell 3.1 percent to ￥633, the lowest since 2011, as of the close yesterday in Tokyo. The shares have slid 28 percent this year, compared with a 19 percent gain in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.
Shiro Ikushima, a spokesman for Kyoto-based Nidec, declined to comment. A Nissan representative did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Seki is to be joining a company that makes about one-eighth of Nissan’s sales, but has a market value that is more than 60 percent higher at about ￥4.5 trillion (US$41 billion).
Known for its precision products, Nidec is the world’s No. 1 supplier of hard-drive motors. The manufacturer is seeking to become a top supplier for electric vehicles, home appliances, and industrial and commercial equipment, with the goal of reaching ￥10 trillion in annual sales by fiscal 2030.
Shigenobu Nagamori, Nidec’s billionaire chief executive officer, founded the company in 1973 in a shack next to his family’s farmhouse. The outspoken chairman had last year appointed Hiroyuki Yoshimoto, another Nissan veteran, as chief operations officer.
Nagamori, 75, is known as a dealmaker, having bought scores of companies under his tenure, and for his hard-charging management style.
Nissan’s management has been on shaky ground since Ghosn was arrested for financial crimes in November last year.
Hiroto Saikawa, Ghosn’s successor, earlier this year stepped down as chief executive officer amid a scandal over excess compensation.
Seki joined the Yokohama-based automaker in 1986, meaning new chief executive officer Uchida and chief operations officer Ashwani Gupta would have to fill a void left by the departure of the member of their team with the most experience within Nissan.
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