Toyo Elevates Americas Business as North American Sales Grow
What Tire Dealers Should Know
- Toyo Tire Corp. will elevate its Americas Sales Division to an Americas Business Headquarters effective Oct. 1, putting the operation directly under Toyo President and CEO Takashi Shimizu.
- The restructuring comes as North American sales increased 4.9% year over year to $1.27 billion during the second quarter, making the region Toyo’s largest revenue-generating market. Read MTD’s Q2 financial coverage.
- Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. CEO Michael Graber recently told MTD the company is maintaining market share, gaining share in A/T and M/T tires and investing in its White, Ga., plant to expand production of premium tires for the U.S. market. Read MTD’s mid-year Q&A with Graber.
Editor's note: This story was updated Sept. 2, 2026, to include additional information about the professional backgrounds of Keiko Brockel and Angelo Naval, as well as comments from Toyo Tire Corp. President and CEO Takashi Shimizu.
Toyo Tire Corp. is elevating its Americas business within its global organization and installing new leadership as the tiremaker looks to strengthen execution of its growth strategy in North America.
Effective Oct. 1, Toyo’s Americas Sales Division will become the Americas Business Headquarters and will report directly to Toyo Tire Corp. President and CEO Takashi Shimizu. The company says the restructuring is intended to strengthen execution of priorities contained in its five-year Mid-Term ’26 Plan.
The move comes as North America continues to generate a significant portion of Toyo’s revenue. During the second quarter, North America was Toyo’s largest revenue-generating region, with sales of $1.27 billion, up 4.9% from the same period in 2025. Toyo recorded $1.8 billion in total second-quarter net sales, up 0.3% year over year.
The company’s tire business generated $1.5 billion in second-quarter revenue, though tire unit sales declined due to weak markets and operating income in the tire segment dropped 22.6% year over year to $230.7 million. Toyo also lowered its full-year sales forecast to approximately $5.7 billion.
Toyo builds Americas Business Headquarters
As part of the restructuring, Toyo will also rename its Americas Sales Department the Americas Business Development Department and move it into the new Americas Business Headquarters.
Kenji Kubo, currently division general manager of Toyo’s Americas Sales Division, will become general manager of the Americas Business Development Department.
Tatsuo Mitsuhata, a senior corporate officer who currently serves as chairman and CEO of Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc., will become vice president of the new Americas Business Headquarters. He will also become representative director and CEO of Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas while continuing as president and CEO of Toyo Tire North America OE Sales LLC.
Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas is a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Toyo Tire Corp. Its group companies manufacture, import, market, sell and distribute Toyo and Nitto brand tires in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The restructuring does not specify whether the changes will alter the responsibilities of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. or its CEO, Michael Graber.
Brockel to lead day-to-day North American operations
Keiko Brockel, currently president and CEO of Nitto Tire U.S.A. Inc., will become president and CEO of Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas and will lead the company’s day-to-day business operations in North America.
Brockel will be the first woman and first American to hold the position.
She joined Nitto in 2008 and has held a range of executive positions during her 18 years with the company, with responsibilities spanning sales, finance, supply chain and operations.
Angelo Naval will succeed Brockel as president and CEO of Nitto Tire U.S.A. Naval currently serves as vice president of sales and business strategy and previously served as vice president of product and business strategy. He joined Nitto in 2000.
The changes also take effect Oct. 1.
“On behalf of Toyo Tire, I would like to congratulate both Keiko Brockel and Angelo Naval on their well-earned new appointments and thank them for their invaluable contributions to the growth and success of Nitto Tire in the American market,” said Shimizu.
Toyo’s earlier restructuring announcement also lists Mitsuhata as representative director and CEO of Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas while Brockel will serve as president and CEO. Toyo says Brockel will manage day-to-day North American operations, but has not detailed how responsibilities will be divided between the two executives.
Toyo's North American investments
The organizational changes come as Toyo continues to invest in its North American manufacturing and product portfolio.
Earlier this year, Graber told MTD that Toyo has begun renovating its tire plant in White, Ga., as part of an investment designed to increase capacity and enable the company to manufacture more premium tires for the U.S. market. Toyo's White plant recently produced its 100 millionth tire. The company also operates an R&D center at the site.
“We’re trying to use that plant to make high-quality, high-value tires for the U.S. market,” Graber told MTD in June, adding that additional investment in the plant is underway.
The investment aligns with Toyo Tire Corp.’s broader strategy of using its profitable North American wide light truck tire business as a foundation for growth. The company has identified wide light truck tires, ultra-high-performance tires and truck and bus radial tires as priority areas under its Mid-Term ’26 Plan.
Toyo navigates a softer tire market
The added focus on the Americas also comes as Toyo works through softer replacement tire demand.
Graber told MTD at mid-year that tariffs and broader economic pressures were weighing on demand and contributing to consumers moving toward lower tire price tiers. He also said dealers were closely managing inventories to conserve cash. Despite those pressures, Toyo had maintained its market share and was gaining share in the all-terrain and mud-terrain light truck segments.
Toyo has continued to position itself primarily as a tier-two consumer tire brand, while Graber said the company views its Open Country light truck products as competing at a tier-one level.
The company also has been expanding its North American product lineup. Toyo introduced the M165 commercial van tire for last-mile delivery applications earlier this year and has been preparing launches of the Proxes Sport R extreme-performance tire and a broadline grand touring tire.