Michael Defer

President and CEO JTEKT Machinery Americas Corporation

Last Reviewed: September 27, 2026

Executive Summary

Michael Defer is President and CEO of JTEKT Machinery Americas Corporation, the North American machine tool business of Japan’s JTEKT Corporation, headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The company, known until recently as JTEKT Toyoda Americas and tracing its roots to Toyoda Machine Works in 1941, sells horizontal and vertical machining centers, grinders, bridge and boring mills and turning centers, alongside automation, rebuild and remanufacturing services. Defer came to it in January 2022 as President and COO from a career at European machine tool builders, and has since pushed the company toward a single-source model, folding in Koyo Machinery USA’s grinding business and adding partner brands to fill product gaps.

Career Highlights

• President and CEO of JTEKT Machinery Americas Corporation.
• Appointed President and COO of JTEKT Toyoda Americas Corp. effective 3 January 2022, succeeding Howard Michael, who retired after 25 years as president.
• Led the merger of Koyo Machinery USA into JTEKT Machinery Americas, effective 1 January 2024, moving Koyo’s operations into the company’s Wixom, Michigan facility.
• Earlier held executive positions at the machine tool manufacturers Alfing, Chiron and Heller, with work spanning the aerospace and automotive industries.

Professional Journey

Defer grew up in Metro Detroit, where, as he told IMTS, the automotive industry was a core part of his early identity; his father was a “lifelong Chrysler guy” who taught him to rebuild cars. His career was spent in machine tools, with executive positions at three builders of metal-cutting equipment, Alfing, Chiron and Heller, serving customers in aerospace and automotive manufacturing.

He joined JTEKT Toyoda Americas Corp. as president and chief operating officer on 3 January 2022, taking over from Howard Michael, who retired after 25 years in the role. Announcing the change, Defer said JTEKT gave the company “an expansive offering to customers, where we can go into many different industries,” and that he intended to build on the Toyoda brand’s reputation for reliability and production-oriented engineering while moving into new markets.

By the start of 2024 the company was presenting him as President and CEO. Effective 1 January 2024, Koyo Machinery USA, a sister JTEKT company specialising in precision production grinders, was merged into JTEKT Machinery Americas as part of JTEKT Corporation’s global brand unification programme launched in 2021. Koyo’s operational core moved from Plymouth, Michigan to JTEKT’s Wixom facility. Defer described the combined line-up of Koyo grinders, JTEKT machining centers and grinders, turning and large bridge machines, together with automation, application engineering, controls and rebuild services, as a way to give customers “end-to-end lifetime support of their manufacturing from a single, trusted source.”

In an IMTS profile he set out the strategy in terms of diversification: getting “really good at what we’re doing,” while reaching industries such as heavy-duty energy, oil and gas, medical, aerospace and job shops, and adding partner brands where JTEKT’s own range has gaps. The company’s partners now include WELE Mechatronic, Taiwan Takisawa and Ace Micromatic Group. He has described his job as president as helping the company “challenge the status quo, find the good technology fit, and look for ways to continuously adapt.”

Education

No education record was found in any company or press source reviewed.