American Honda to Participate in AMA Sponsor Program
Torrance, CA: American Honda announced today that it will
participate in the AMA-mandated program requiring all competitors in
the 2006 AMA Motocr oss Championship series to place Toyota logos on
their machine’s front number plate. However, for a number of reasons,
American Honda will do so under duress.
The AMA recently announced this requirement as a result of securing
Toyota as a 2006 AMA Motocross Championship series sponsor. While
American Honda welcomes Toyota and applauds the AMA’s success in
bringing a significant sponsor to this national series, it does not
agree with the AMA’s marketing decision regarding this requirement.
Placing competitor logos on another manufacturer’s machines is
offensive to companies with strong brand identities. Such a requirement
is misleading and potentially confusing to spectators and
customers. It is surprising the AMA would incorporate such a
requirement into its series sponsor contract without consideration to
the competitive position of the companies involved. This is analogous
to NASCAR naming Toyota as series sponsor and requiring, Dodge, Ford
and Chevrolet to place Toyota logos prominently on their vehicles, a
situation we believe NASCAR would never allow.
Some may recall the Mazda Supercross series sponsorship several years
ago and wonder how this current situation differs. In that case, Mazda
sponsored a points fund and riders were required to run Mazda logos on
their machines to earn contingency awards. American Honda elected not
to run the Mazda logos, but directly compensated its team riders for
any earnings that would have come through the fund. In the case of the
current Toyota series sponsorship, there are no apparent benefits to
the riders or the teams.
American Honda will comply with the AMA logo mandate for the Toyota
series sponsorship because we have a responsibility to the fans and to
our customers who have paid to see professional motocross competition
with a full field of riders, including the Honda factory team.
American Honda will continue to support the growth of AMA professional
racing through participation of its factory teams until such time that
the requirements imposed by the sanctioning body undermine American
Honda’s marketing strategies to an unacceptable extent.
Professional racing helps promote Honda products to current and future
customers, and remains a cornerstone of Honda’s worldwide marketing
commitment. American Honda remains committed to providing new
opportunities for customers to enjoy and race Honda products, and for
fans to share in the unique passion and excitement of motorcycle racing.