Toyota Withdraws From Olympic Sponsorship Amid Concerns Over Politics

Japanese automotive giant Toyota has announced it will be ending its premier sponsorship of the Olympics, with Chairman Akio Toyoda attributing the decision to the event’s “increasingly political” nature, which he believes has begun to overshadow the athletes.

Toyota originally entered into a 10-year sponsorship agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2015. However, following the conclusion of the Paris Games, the company has chosen not to renew the contract. Toyoda shared this news during a podcast episode posted on the company’s official YouTube channel on Thursday.

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“I’ve wondered for a while now whether the event is truly putting athletes first”, Toyoda said.

“It is also becoming increasingly political”.

The withdrawal means Olympics logos currently carried by Toyota products will be phased out, and its vehicles will no longer be provided to assist with the event, the chairman said.

Public broadcaster NHK said the company is also ending its Paralympics sponsorship deal.

“For me, the Olympics should simply be about watching athletes from all walks of life, with all types of challenges, achieve their impossible,” Toyoda told the US auto dealers.

Toyota follows another Japanese company Panasonic in ending their association with the Olympics.

Panasonic announced their withdrawal earlier this month citing “management considerations”.

The electronics giant said it agreed with the IOC not to extend their sponsorship agreement when the current contract expires in December.

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Panasonic became an “official Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games” in 1987 and expanded its sponsorship to the Paralympics from 2014.

But it decided to let the contract expire “as the Group continually reviews how sponsorship should evolve with broader management considerations”.

“As a result of this review, and after extensive consultation with the IOC, the parties agreed to refrain from renewing the Olympic and Paralympic Partner Agreement,” Panasonic said without offering details.

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