Toyota celebrates Cup campaign success

Victory in the America’s Cup has seen Emirates Team New Zealand continue a fine tradition of reaching every America’s Cup contest since 1995. The common denominator in all these campaigns has been Toyota New Zealand, the team’s longest serving and most consistent supporter. “The team’s philosophy of imagination, experimentation and innovation has been the winning ingredient,” said Andrew Davis, the General Manager of Marketing for Toyota New Zealand. This month’s racing in Bermuda, the most exciting in the Cup’s history, is the seventh America’s Cup campaign Toyota has been involved in. “The decision to stay and prepare in Auckland for as long as possible has certainly paid off,” said Davis “And keeping those cyclors under wraps was a big part of that.” Mr Davis said the innovative experiment of using cyclors to power the boat’s hydraulics was the biggest point of difference between the team and the other campaigns. “This year’s successful challenge for the America’s Cup aligns even more closely with our brand values of continuous improvement and over the last four years this focus has led to some exciting innovations.” Toyota New Zealand first joined an America’s Cup campaign in 1992 and was involved in Black Magic’s victory in 1995 and successful defence in 2000. It has also stood behind the team, when the trophy went to Switzerland in 2003 and the challenges in 2007 and 2013. Toyota’s support of Team New Zealand since 1992 is one of the most successful sports sponsorships in the country’s history, said Davis. “The team has achieved a remarkable success in a short time and it is the people who have gone the extra mile to deliver a great result.”