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Nissan Motor Co. said Friday its nomination committee has picked Hideyuki Sakamoto, an executive vice president of the company, as a candidate for a new director following the acceptance of resignation by its No. 3 executive.

Sakamoto was previously a director from June 2014 to June of this year. He will rejoin the company's board and replace vice-chief operating officer Jun Seki, subject to approval at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in February.

The new appointment comes after Nissan said this week it had accepted an offer by Seki to resign as vice COO, less than a month after the new management team was launched.

It is widely believed Seki was in conflict with newly appointed CEO Makoto Uchida over how to deal with Renault SA of France, Nissan's largest shareholder that had previously pushed for their merger.

The repeated changes in its board members comes as the company is struggling with its faltering earnings following the ouster of its former chairman Carlos Ghosn.

The Japanese carmaker also needs to strengthen its alliance with Renault to meet growing demand for connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicles.

Sakamoto, currently in charge of Nissan's production operations, will not become vice COO and the post will remain vacant "for the time being," a Nissan spokesman said.

He previously headed the company's research and development operations as vice president, while working at the Brazilian unit of Renault.

At the extraordinary shareholders' meeting on Feb. 18, Nissan will seek to gain approval for the new management headed by CEO Uchida.

Seki is expected to move to Nidec Corp., a Japanese electric motor maker, in February on the promise of becoming its president in the future, sources close to the matter said earlier.

==Kyodo

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