Press release -
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
Profile of Mr. Hiroyuki Yoshimoto
Name: Hiroyuki Yoshimoto
Birthdate: October 28, 1967 (age 50)
Birthplace: Kyoto Prefecture
Education and career summary:
March 1991: Bachelor's degree, School of Human Sciences, Osaka University
May 2002: MBA, Carnegie Mellon University
April 1991: Joined Nissho Iwai Corporation (currently Sojitz Corporation)
February 2008: Joined Calsonic Kansei Corporation
April 2010: Executive Vice President of Calsonic Kansei Corporation
April 2012: Joined Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
January 2014: Representative Director and President of Nissan Motor Thailand Co., Ltd.
March 2015: Executive Consultant of Nidec Corporation
May 2015: Representative Director and President of Nidec Tosok Corporation
November 2016: Executive Vice President of Nidec Corporation
January 2017: Representative Director and Chairman of Nidec Tosok Corporation
(current position)
June 2017: Director and Executive Vice President of Nidec Corporation
April 2018: Representative Director, Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer of Nidec Corporation
June 2018: Representative Director, President and
Chief Operating Officer of Nidec Corporation (current position)
Profile of Mr. Shigenobu Nagamori
Name: Shigenobu Nagamori
Birthdate: August 28, 1944 (age 73)
Birthplace: Kyoto Prefecture
Education and career summary:
March 1967: Graduates from Polytechnic University in Tokyo, Japan
(Major in Electrical Engineering)
July 1973: Establishes Nidec Corporation at the age of 28 and becomes
Chairman of the Board and President
January 2015: Establishes the Nagamori Awards to commend entry to
middle-level R&D engineers who demonstrate innovative,
documented development of motors, actuators,
power generators and associated technologies
March 2018: Chairman of the Board of Kyoto Gakuen Educational Foundation
(current position)
June 2018: Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Nidec Corporation
(current position)
