Nidec uncovers more than 1,000 cases of manufacturing misconduct
15 May 2026 
The Japanese motor-maker Nidec has discovered potential manufacturing issues affecting some of its products, involving changes made to materials, processes and designs without customer approval. The issues mainly affect motors for appliance and automotive customers. More than 1,000 cases of irregularities have already been identified in the period since April 2020.
Nidec emphasises that it not found any issues that immediately affect product functionality or safety. It adds that it has not identified any instances of improper conduct in its industrial, infrastructure or machinery businesses.
The latest issues follow earlier revelations about significant accounting fraud which are estimated to have inflated Nidec’s profits by around $1bn in 2025. This was done by delaying expenses reports, and recording revenues improperly at many of the company’s locations. An external investigating committee placed most of the blame on Nidec’s founder, Shigenobu Nagamori, who they said had set unrealistic targets for the company’s share price and put pressure on company executives to achieve this. Similar pressure is also thought to behind the quality-related misconduct allegations. Nagamori resigned from the Nidec board in December 2025, and as chairman emeritus in February 2026.
Nidec says that it discovered the manufacturing issues after interviewing employees at all of its production sites, cross-referencing records related to process and design changes, and establishing a whistleblower hotline for employees to report quality management concerns.
The company is contacting affected customers to inform them and to discuss how to address the issues. It says it will continue to respond appropriately, including implementing technical verification measures, and reviewing and improving its quality management systems.
Nidec has also set up a committee of external experts with experience of similar cases to clarify the facts, identify root causes, and look at remedial measures. The committee is due to report its findings by the end of August, 2026.
In January 2026, Nidec initiated an inspection programme at all of its production and development sites to check their quality management systems, identify quality-related issues, and examine possible remedial and preventative measures.
This programme is still ongoing but has already identified issues at multiple sites, some going back as far as 2020. Almost all of the incidents involved changes to materials, processes and designs made without customer approval, but Nidec also uncovered inappropriate practices relating to test and inspection data, and falsified labelling of where products had been made.
So far, the manufacturing issues have been discovered mainly in the global appliances division of Nidec’s Appliance, Commercial & Industrial Motor (ACIM) business, as well as in Nidec Instruments and Nidec Techno Motor. Automotive components made by Nidec Instruments are also affected.
Nidec says that it is “fully committed” to addressing the issues and will cooperate with the investigation committee. In parallel, the company is launching an “Improvement Promotion Office” to ensure timely communications with its customers, and to implement measures to prevent a recurrence of the problems.
Nidec stresses that it is now operating under a new management team and says it top priority is to regain the market’s trust. To achieve this, it is reforming its corporate culture, systems and processes, for example, moving from a top-down model for internal communications to a two-way dialogue, and transforming from a mood of “confinement” in the workplace to one of “hope”.
