Nidec
Kyoto-based electric-motor manufacturer founded in 1973 by Shigenobu Nagamori, once the world's largest precision-motor maker, now engulfed in a 2025–26 accounting and quality scandal: PwC Japan twice withheld its audit opinion and the Tokyo Stock Exchange put its stock on special alert.
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- Location
- Kyoto, Japan
- Country
- Japan
- Known for
- Electric motors and drives — from hard-disk-drive spindle motors to EV e-axles and AI data-centre water-cooling modules
- Founded
- 1973, in Kyoto, by Shigenobu Nagamori (originally as Nippon Densan)
- Scale
- More than 100,000 employees; described by The Japan Times as the world's largest maker of precision motors
- Scandal scope
- Third-party committee probe (2025–26); PwC Japan disclaimers of opinion on FY2025 and FY2026 accounts; ¥1.1 trillion in cumulative writedowns reported September 2026
- Market status
- Tokyo Stock Exchange 'special alert' designation since October 2025 — one year to remediate internal controls or face delisting risk
- Leadership
- Michio Kaida, CEO from late September 2026, succeeding the resigned Mitsuya Kishida
Overview
Nidec is a Kyoto-based manufacturer of electric motors and drives, founded in 1973 by Shigenobu Nagamori and described by The Japan Times as the world’s largest maker of precision motors (The Japan Times). With more than 100,000 employees, it makes motors of all sizes — used in pumps, air conditioners, robotics, driver-assistance systems and heat management in vehicles — plus sensors and electronic devices (Nikkei Asia). After decades of acquisition-driven growth, the company is now defined by a sprawling 2025–26 governance crisis: a third-party accounting probe, two consecutive auditor disclaimers, a Tokyo Stock Exchange “special alert,” and two CEOs departing.
From Kyoto workshop to global motor giant
The company began in 1973 in a small Kyoto workshop founded by Nagamori — the classic “monozukuri” rags-to-riches story of a Japanese precision manufacturer (Nikkei Asia). It grew through hard-disk-drive spindle motors and a long run of acquisitions into a diversified motor empire. More recently Nidec bet heavily on two frontiers: EV components, developing an e-axle traction motor combining an EV’s gear, motor and power-control electronics — a bet then battered by demand uncertainty and heavy price competition in China — and AI infrastructure, where it told investors in 2024 that demand for its water-cooling modules for generative-AI data centres was expanding rapidly and could one day reach ¥1 trillion in sales (Reuters). Even before the scandal, the cracks showed: in early 2024 Nidec revised down two years of operating profit after determining that some sales at a subsidiary had been “recorded in an inflated manner” (Reuters).
The accounting and quality scandals
The crisis broke into the open in 2025, when a third-party committee was established to investigate suspected irregularities; in March 2026 the company flagged a nearly $890 million expected hit on net assets, and an independent investigation report identified falsification and fabrication of testing and inspection results (Dow Jones). In September 2026 a company investigation separately disclosed 844 cases of quality-control misconduct spanning a decade — most involving unapproved changes to product materials or manufacturing processes, others faked product tests and false labeling of origin — carried out, officials said, by workers under intense pressure to achieve results; the company insisted no safety problems were found and there would be no massive recalls (Nikkei Asia).
The financial fallout was severe. Delayed FY2026 accounts booked ¥632 billion ($4 billion) in writedowns plus ¥482.5 billion in charges tied to accounting irregularities, and auditor PwC Japan withheld its opinion on the results — for the second consecutive year (The Japan Times). Shares plunged as much as 20% in a day, their worst intraday drop since September 2025, losing more than 31% across that week after the Japanese magazine Diamond reported on the losses (The Japan Times). CEO Mitsuya Kishida resigned in late September 2026 after a review found he had “made statements or engaged in conduct in relation to financial reporting that could not necessarily be regarded as appropriate”; CTO Michio Kaida succeeded him (Dow Jones). The Tokyo Stock Exchange had put Nidec’s stock on “special alert” in October 2025, giving it one year to improve internal controls or risk delisting — a deadline that falls in late October 2026 (Reuters). Kaida has said the company is working with PwC Japan toward an audit sign-off in October and plans to shift resources from home-appliance and automotive businesses toward energy infrastructure, AI-related products, semiconductors and machine tools (Reuters).
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not assign personal criminal liability to any individual — the third-party committee’s findings on specific people were not detailed in the citable sources, and PwC Japan has said it could not verify whether the booked impairments are sufficient, so the ¥1.1 trillion cumulative write-down figure is reported as stated by the company and wire services, not as a settled final number. It does not cover the withdrawn 2025 Makino Milling takeover bid, which rests on company-issued disclosure documents that fall outside this profile’s sourcing rules. It makes no claim about the safety of any specific Nidec product beyond the company’s own stated finding that its investigation found no safety problems.
Timeline
- 1973
- Shigenobu Nagamori founds the company — originally Nippon Densan — in a small workshop in Kyoto.
- 2024
- Nidec posts an unexpected Q4 operating loss of ¥6.17 billion as China EV price wars force restructuring, after earlier revising down prior-year profits when some sales at a subsidiary were found "recorded in an inflated manner."
- 2025
- A third-party committee is established to investigate suspected irregularities; the Tokyo Stock Exchange places Nidec's stock on "special alert" over governance, giving it a year to improve internal controls.
- 2026
- A company investigation discloses 844 cases of quality-control misconduct spanning a decade — unapproved material changes, faked tests, false origin labeling — while insisting no safety problems were found.
- 2026
- CEO Mitsuya Kishida resigns in September; delayed FY2026 accounts book ¥632 billion in writedowns plus ¥482.5 billion in irregularity-related charges, and PwC Japan withholds its audit opinion for the second consecutive year.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The ¥1.1 trillion cumulative write-down figure reported by Reuters is stated as reported; PwC Japan has said it could not verify whether booked impairments are sufficient.
- The third-party committee's findings on specific individuals beyond leadership changes were not detailed in the citable sources.
- Nidec's renaming from Nippon Densan (2023) appeared in a non-citable specialist blog and is not stated here.
Sources
5 sources (5 tier 1), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Built from five independent tier1 sources — The Japan Times, Nikkei Asia (AP wire), Reuters via Channel NewsAsia and SRN News, and Dow Jones via Morningstar. No company filings, company-owned pages or press releases were used. AI-generated aggregator pieces on the scandal were treated as leads only.
- Supports: World's largest precision-motor maker; ¥632bn writedowns FY2026 + ¥482.5bn irregularity charges; PwC Japan withheld opinion; 20% intraday share drop; CEO Kishida resignation; Oct 28 securities-report deadline (one year since TSE special alert) Open original source
- Supports: CEO Michio Kaida succeeding Kishida; disclaimer of opinion on delayed statements; TSE special alert October 2025 with one-year remediation window; impairment losses exceeding ¥630bn; strategic shift from home appliance/automotive toward energy infrastructure, AI products, semiconductors, machine tools Open original source
- Supports: Third-party committee established 2025; March 2026 ~$890m expected hit on net assets; independent report found falsification/fabrication of testing and inspection results; reason given for Kishida resignation Open original source
- Supports: 844 quality-control misconduct cases over a decade (back to 2012); unapproved material/process changes, faked tests, false origin labeling; no safety problems found, no massive recalls; 100,000+ employees; founded 1973 in Kyoto by Shigenobu Nagamori; product range (pumps, air conditioners, robotics, auto parts) Open original source
- Supports: Electric motor maker; FY2025 operating profit forecast raised to ¥240bn; hard-drive motor demand recovery; water-cooling modules for AI data centres (future ¥1tn sales ambition); Tata Elxsi MoU; EV e-axle bet hit by China demand uncertainty and price competition; prior-year profit revisions after inflated sales at a subsidiary Open original source
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