Ahead of Shareholder Meeting, Activists Call on Toyota to Drop MAGA

PLANO, TEXAS and LOS ANGELES — Days ahead of Toyota Motor Corp.’s annual shareholder meeting, billboard trucks circled Toyota’s North America headquarters and several of its dealerships in Los Angeles. The billboard trucks called on the automaker to drop MAGA, featuring images of company Chairman Akio Toyoda in his MAGA hat and Trump-Vance t-shirt, as Toyoda seeks board approval to continue as the company’s chairman.

“Chairman Toyoda, a habitual backseat driver, seems determined to drive Toyota right off the road,” said Adam Zuckerman, senior clean vehicles campaigner with Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “Toyota and its costumed chairman are going all out to tie themselves to the anti-climate and anti-EV Trump administration. Between Toyoda’s  MAGA gear at NASCAR, and the company’s corporate sponsorship of Transportation Secretary Duffy’s road trip, Toyota’s ham-fisted attempts to curry favor are as distasteful as they are unethical.”

75% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats who own Toyotas said that the company should support stronger emissions rules—standards that Toyota has worked with Trump to dismantle in the U.S., Toyota’s largest market.

“In Trump, Toyoda has found a kindred spirit – a power-hungry ruler intent on clinging to the past and blocking progress. Investors should revoke Toyoda’s license, and demand the company stop polluting our air and our politics,” said Zuckerman. “Car buyers deserve to know how closely Toyota is tying itself to the Trump administration.”