(Asian Tech Press) Nidec Corp (6594: Tokyo), Japanese electric motor manufacturers, will significantly increase the number of employees in China, where demand for pure electric vehicles (EVs) is surging, according to Nikkei Asia.

Nidec has the company's state-of-the-art R&D center for electric vehicle motors in Suzhou, and the center was opened in September 2020.

A total of 170 employees were hired at the Suzhou R&D center by June 1 of this year. Nidec plans to increase the staff by about 50% to 250 by March 2022.

This spring, the company launched a motor plant in Dalian, and it now plans to increase the number of employees at this plant to 2,000.

In addition to the motor plant, Nidec has another plant in Dalian that produces other products. And after completing a new round of hiring, the company will increase its workforce in Dalian by 40% to 5,000.

At present, Nidec's current new plant in Dalian has only one building. The company also plans to build a second building, which is expected to become the world's largest electric motor plant, producing motors for 1 million electric vehicles a year.

A senior research officer at Mizuho Financial institution said Nidec has about 5.5% of the market share in China's electric vehicle motor market. The company ranks fourth in the market for drive techniques (including gears and inverters), with a 15% market share.