Hon Hai Technology Group (鴻海科技集團) yesterday named former Nidec Corp boss Jun Seki the chief strategy officer of its electric vehicle (EV) venture, making the first high-profile hire for a business the iPhone maker hopes will carve out new markets.
Seki, who left Nidec last year after company founder Shigenobu Nagamori removed him as CEO, is expected to help drive one of Hon Hai’s newest priorities.
The Taiwanese firm accelerated its push into the automotive industry over the past year by acquiring a pickup assembly plant from embattled Lordstown Motors Corp in the US and showcased several EV prototypes.
Photo: Reuters
It had not made any prominent hires before announcing the 61-year-old Seki’s appointment yesterday.
Hon Hai, known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, has been bolstering efforts to secure new revenue after grappling with thin margins and unprecedented COVID-19-induced challenges in China, including a violent protest at its main iPhone assembly site in Zhenzhou in November last year.
The Taiwanese company expects its EV business to start contributing meaningful revenue this year, and has targeted a 5 percent market share by 2025, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) has said.
Seki spent fewer than three years at the world’s biggest manufacturer of electric motors. He was demoted last year, after Nagamori blamed him for the Japanese company’s poor performance.
Seki has decades of experience in automobiles, including with Nissan Motor Co and China’s Dongfeng Motor Co (東風汽車).
“Mr Seki’s rich management experience in the Japanese auto industry and global EV supply chains will assist the group in integrating EV resources and development in the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East,” Hon Hai said in a statement.
Seki is to report directly to Liu and his appointment is effective from tomorrow, it said.
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