The chair of Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota has confirmed that the brand will not be renewing its deal as a top-tier partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Akio Toyoda, who has been the corporation’s chair since May 2023, publicly stated that the ‘TOP’ sponsorship tie-up between Toyota and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will not be extended.

Initial reports around Toyota not renewing its tie-up with the IOC emerged in late May.

The Toyota-IOC deal ran through the Olympics in 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2024, with Toyota having provided a fleet of around 3,300 electric vehicles and mobility solutions at the Paris Olympics in late July and August. That deal is understood to have been worth $835 million in total.

This news comes soon after it was unveiled that another Japanese ‘TOP’ IOC partner, Panasonic, will be letting its relationship with the IOC come to an end in a few months.

The last extension between Panasonic and the IOC was unveiled in February 2014 and runs between January 2017 and the end of 2024. GlobalData Sport has estimated the deal as being worth $320 million in total.

The other major IOC Japanese sponsor is Bridgestone.

Current ‘TOP’ IOC commercial partners include AB InBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, and Visa.

Of the IOC’s total income levels, roughly 30% is brought in through sponsorship revenue.

Last month, Anne-Sophie Voumard, marketing director at the IOC, said the body “would love to welcome a first new 'TOP' sponsor from India and I am sure that this is going to happen very, very soon.”

She also said at that point that TOP partners “come and go depending on their business strategy.”

August also saw Deloitte and the IOC unveil an expansion of their deal, through which the professional services firm will take on the role of games technology integration partner for the Olympic Games, the Paralympics, and the Youth Olympics.