Honda has signed on as a major partner for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
The carmaker will provide a fleet of cars for athletes, officials and stakeholders, along with motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and other multipurpose vehicles during the event, it said in a statement. It’s also a partner for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, it said.
The announcement follows media reports that fellow Japanese automaker Toyota was set to end its top-tier sponsorship contract with the International Olympic Committee after the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The deal, which it signed in 2015, was probably worth more than ¥100 billion ($690 million) in total, Kyodo News reported last year, citing sources it didn’t identify.
Toyota had found itself caught in the middle of strong public opposition to the Tokyo Olympics, initially set to be held in 2020 but delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The carmaker pulled its television advertisements during the Games and Chairman Akio Toyoda skipped the opening ceremony amid concerns about holding the event during the global health crisis.
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