Photo/Illutration Jun Seki, vice chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Co., at a news conference in Yokohama on Dec. 2 (Shiro Nishihata)

Jun Seki, the executive who was put in charge of turning around scandal-ridden and money-losing Nissan Motor Co., has resigned after less than a month in the role, sources said Dec. 24.

Seki informed other senior officials at the automaker that he would step down as executive officer and vice chief operating officer, the sources said.

The company said it has not decided who will replace Seki. Nissan’s publicity department declined to comment on Seki’s decision.

Seki, 58, is expected to leave Nissan and become president of Nidec Corp., a Kyoto-based manufacturer of automotive components, in February.

His departure comes shortly after Nissan started a new management system with Makoto Uchida, 53, as CEO, Ashwani Gupta, 49, as COO, and Seki as vice COO.

The “Big Three” leaders were named by a committee consisting of outside directors.

Seki, the No. 3 executive, was tasked with drawing up plans to reconstruct the automaker from damage caused by the downfall and arrest of longtime CEO Carlos Ghosn in 2018 and the abrupt resignation in September of Hiroto Saikawa, who took over the helm of Nissan after Ghosn’s ouster.

Gupta and Seki were appointed to the posts to support Uchida under a collective leadership system designed to prevent the CEO from concentrating enormous power, as Ghosn had done.

Seki joined Nissan in 1986 as an engineer after graduating from the National Defense Academy of Japan.

In spring this year, he was assigned to a “performance recovery” post after the carmaker saw its balance sheets sharply deteriorate while chaos engulfed top management.

Seki led efforts to compile measures announced in July to streamline Nissan’s manufacturing bases and reduce the workforce.

As vice COO, he was also in charge of developing plans for new car products.

“I am determined to close the big gap between top management and the front line of production,” he said at a news conference on Dec. 2.

Nidec Corp. has expanded its business under the leadership of Chairman Shigenobu Nagamori.

The company promoted Hiroyuki Yoshimoto, who was formerly with Nissan, as vice president last year.

Yoshimoto has been tasked with bolstering the motor business for home appliances and office-use products since he moved to the company’s U.S. arm in July.