NEW YORK (Kyodo) Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. said Monday it has signed a marketing agreement with eBay that includes a one-year exclusive sponsorship on the world's leading online auction site, the first exclusive sponsorship of its kind for the Internet auctioneer.
Under the agreement, Toyota's U.S. marketing, sales and distribution arm will showcase its products in an exclusive Web site on eBay, including the entire lineup of new vehicles, links to Toyota items sold on eBay and special promotional offers that could reach some 95 million registered eBay users.
Toyota said it will also donate vehicles for various charity auctions starting at the end of March.
"The alliance will allow us to reach Toyota owners and potential new buyers within the eBay community," Deborah Meyer, Toyota's corporate manager of marketing communications, said in a statement.
Don Albert, senior director of eBay's Strategic Partnerships, also said in the statement, "This relationship with Toyota represents the first exclusive advertising sponsorship by an automotive manufacture on eBay."
Founded in 1995, eBay has created the world's leading platform for Internet auctions for both individual and corporate users.