Hiroyuki Yoshimoto Assumes Office as New Nidec President
For the first time in the 45 year old history of the Kyoto-based multinational manufacturer of electric motors, Nidec has a new president, as Hiroyuki Yoshimoto becomes the first person to hold the post after the company’s founder Shigenobu Nagamori. The appointment, announced on February 15, was approved on June 20 at the 45th regular general meeting of shareholders and a subsequent meeting of the board of directors.
Nagamori will remain at the helm of the company, together with the new president and COO Yoshimoto, as chairman and CEO. “I have no intention of resigning yet, but the time has come to share the responsibility of managing a company group that now operates in 43 countries and continues to grow. At first, Yoshimoto will take over about 30% of my responsibilities. 10% of my time will go towards chairing the board of Kyoto Gakuen Educational Foundation that manages Kyoto Gakuen University, where I will develop the next generation of talented engineers, but I will dedicate the remaining 90% to Nidec. As a result the ‘management power’ of the company will actually increase to 120% (90% + 30%),” Nagamori said at a press conference held in Kyoto.
“Yoshimoto is young and ambitious and his management style and methods are similar to my own. Shortly after joining Nidec he managed to turn around Nidec Tosok, a struggling subsidiary, in a single year and significantly boost the growth of Nidec Corporation’s automotive business in under two years.”
Nidec has a history of acquiring and turning around underperforming companies and Yoshimoto outlined his ambition to further boost the growth of the company group by focusing on post-merger integration. “I do not intend to change a winning formula,” he said at the press conference. “On the contrary, I will stay true to Nagamori’s methods and thoroughly infuse the Nidec spirit into the newly acquired businesses through hands-on management.” Yoshimoto also stated his vision for Nidec to become a globally respected company group that each employee can take pride in being a part of.
About Nidec
Nidec was founded by Shigenobu Nagamori in a shed in his backyard in 1973 with only three employees and a vision of making energy efficient brushless DC motors the new global standard. After becoming the first company in the world to successfully commercialize a direct-drive spindle motor for HDDs using brushless DC motor technology in 1979, the company went on to become the world’s number one manufacturer of small precision motors. Nidec later launched into a global effort to diversify and grow its business through a series of nearly 60 mergers and acquisitions.
Currently, the Nidec group, having grown into the world’s number one comprehensive motor manufacturer, employs over 100,000 people in more than 40 countries and manufactures motors and related products for a wide range of applications including IT equipment, home appliances, electric vehicles and other automobiles, robots, drones, industrial facilities and more. In terms of market capitalization, Nidec ranks among the largest companies in Japan with a capitalization that exceeds 5 trillion JPY (46 billion USD1).
After reaching 1 trillion JPY (8.3 billion USD2) in annual sales in FY2014, the Nidec group announced its targets for 2020 and 2030 as 2 and 10 trillion JPY respectively. The electrification of automobiles, increased use of robots, move toward energy-efficient appliances and manpower-saving in agriculture & logistics are four major trends that drive the increased demand for Nidec’s products.
1Calculated based on the JPY to USD exchange rate conversion on the 31st of May 2018
2 Calculated based on the JPY to USD exchange rate conversion on the 31st of March 2015
