Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) has announced executive changes as part of its strategy to support growth and further its efforts in vehicle electrification.
Mike Sweers, who serves as executive vice president of TMNA Research and Development and chief technology officer, will retire effective September 12. Sweers oversees all North American vehicle research and development activities and is a member of TMNA’s North American Executive Committee. He also holds a senior management role at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC).
Sweers joined Toyota in 1990 and has held several leadership positions, including roles at the Toyota Technical Center and TMNA R&D within Interior Design, Liaison, and Engineering Design departments. His experience includes work as principal engineer focusing on seat and seatbelt design.
In July 2010, he was appointed chief engineer for the Toyota Tundra, followed by chief engineer of the Toyota Tacoma in April 2012. In 2017, he became chief engineer for body-on-frame trucks at TMC’s Commercial Vehicle Company (CV Co.) and joined CV’s executive management team. Before these assignments, he served as vice president of Engineering Design, Interior. In June 2023, Sweers took on his current role leading research and development at TMNA.
Sweers holds U.S. patents related to automotive seating and interior trim components. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Keita Moritsu will be promoted from his current position as senior executive at TMNA Research & Development to senior vice president, TMNA Research and Development, chief technology officer effective September 8. Moritsu will oversee all North American vehicle research and development operations while serving on the North American Executive Committee. He will report to Tetsuo Ogawa, president and CEO of TMNA. Moritsu will also maintain his responsibilities as global chief engineer for body-on-frame trucks and platforms such as Tundra, Sequoia, Tacoma, and 4Runner at TMC.
Moritsu began his career with TMC in 1999 in the Body Design Division where he worked on underbody functional components for vehicles. In 2007 he was assigned to North American R&D’s Z Division working on product planning for the Lexus RX tailored to regional markets.
He returned to TMC in 2010 with responsibility for Camry product planning before being promoted to Global Chief Engineer in 2023 overseeing body-on-frame trucks/SUVs including both the North American truck series and Land Cruiser series/platforms.
According to company information (source), Toyota employs nearly 64,000 people across North America who have contributed toward designing, engineering, or assembling close to 49 million vehicles through its network of fourteen manufacturing plants over almost seventy years in operation locally. The company’s plant located in North Carolina began producing automotive batteries for electrified vehicles starting in 2025 (source). Toyota currently offers thirty electrified models—more than any other automaker—in an effort to promote sustainable mobility solutions across its brands.
“Tetsuo Ogawa said: ‘We thank Mike Sweers for his decades-long contributions that helped advance our engineering capabilities here in North America.'”
“Keita Moritsu said: ‘I am honored by this opportunity; I look forward to building upon our momentum toward innovation.'”
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