Preston Tan, Vice President, Toyota Motor Asia on what brands are now expected to deliver in sport

Toyota Motor Asia Vice-President Preston Tan.

Photos courtesy of Toyota Motor Asia.

Words: Raja Izz

Seven athletes. Six countries. One belief that mobility should open doors, not just win medals.

As Toyota Motor Asia unveils its refreshed Global Team Toyota Athletes roster ahead of Aichi-Nagoya 2026, Vice President Preston Tan makes the case for a sponsorship model built on contribution over exposure. Two new para-athletes join the line-up this year, Indonesia's Muhammad Fadli Imamuddin and Malaysia's Muhammad Ammar Aiman Nor Azmi, both proof that resilience and reinvention matter more to Toyota than a highlight reel.

Under the regional brand promise Move Your World, Tan talks through how Toyota chooses its athletes, why the Dual Hero Projects turn personal journeys into community impact, and what corporate Asia still gets wrong about sport sponsorship. It's a conversation about legacy: what gets left behind once the medals are handed out and the crowds go home.

Toyota Motor Asia Vice-President Preston Tan.

For decades, sport sponsorship was largely about brand visibility. What do you believe separates a meaningful sports partnership from a transactional sponsorship in 2026?

The difference today comes down to exposure versus contribution. Traditionally, sports sponsorship was measured by the number of people who saw the brand, how often it appeared, and the size of the audience reached. That still matters, but at Toyota, we aim to do more than just establish brand exposure.

A meaningful partnership is defined by what it enables. It is about whether the collaboration makes a difference for the athletes and the various communities that we are committed to.

This is how Toyota approaches sport globally. From the beginning, we have viewed sport not simply as a sponsorship opportunity, but as an opportunity to contribute long-term.

In Asia, we bring that philosophy to life through our Global Team Toyota Athletes, working alongside them not only in competition, but also in initiatives that benefit the communities that have shaped them.

Whether it is mentoring young people, leading initiatives, or shifting perceptions around disability and inclusion, these are the outcomes that create lasting value for both the athletes and their communities.

For us, the question is not “How many people saw our brand?”, but how we can use our outreach to enable positive outcomes.

Toyota’s “Move Your World's regional brand promise” appears to place people ahead of podium finishes. How do you measure success when an athlete’s influence extends beyond medals and into social impact, inspiration, and community building?

Performance is one way to measure achievement, but more importantly, we also look at how athletes draw from their experiences and local networks to drive positive change in the places they call home.

In Asia, one way we support this is through our Dual Hero Projects, a programme unique to our Asia athletes. Each project is built around a social cause that resonates with the athlete, a topic which they want to champion, whether that is improving accessibility in fashion, supporting youth or driving environmental action. For example, Singapore’s Toh Wei Soong co-created an adaptive fashion collection to challenge perceptions around disability, while Ernie Gawilan in the Philippines mobilised over 1,300 volunteers for coastal clean-up and mangrove restoration. We will continue to develop similar projects with other Global Team Toyota Athletes (GTTA) in Asia, with a focus on initiatives that are locally relevant to their communities.

Ultimately, success is when an athlete’s story or actions encourage someone else to get involved, whether that’s trying a sport, feeling a sense of belonging or seeing possibilities for themselves.

The inclusion of para-athletes Muhammad Fadli Imamuddin and Muhammad Ammar Aiman Nor Azmi reflects a broader shift in Asian sport. What lessons can mainstream sporting institutions and corporate sponsors learn from the resilience and mindset demonstrated by para-athletes?

I think the most important thing is to see para-athletes as athletes.

They train hard, compete at the highest level, make sacrifices, and deal with pressure just like any other elite athlete. So for us, it is not about placing para sport in a separate category. It is about recognising the same level of commitment, discipline, and ambition.

Fadli’s journey is a good example. He started as a professional motorcycle racer, then had to rebuild his sporting career through para cycling after his accident. What stands out is not just the setback, but the mindset he showed after it: the willingness to adapt, take on a new challenge, and keep pursuing excellence.

I think that is where institutions and corporate partners can play a bigger role. We need to move away from seeing para sport only through the lens of limitation, inspiration, or empathy, and instead focus on equal recognition, visibility, and access to opportunities.

That is also how we see Move Your World. It is about helping more people move forward in their own way. For Toyota, our role is not to define anyone’s potential, but to help create the conditions for them to realise it.

Toyota has backed nearly 300 athletes globally, including a dedicated regional roster of over 20 Global Team Toyota Athletes (GTTA) across Southeast Asia since 2018. A key part is the 'Dual Hero' initiative, which pairs each athlete with a localised socio-economic project, with tangible effects.

Many athletes become role models by circumstance rather than design. When identifying members of the Global Team Toyota Athletes programme, what personal qualities matter most beyond sporting achievement?

We take a holistic view when shortlisting athletes as Global Team Toyota Athletes. It is not about where an athlete is in their sporting career at a specific point in time, but about their journey, values, potential, and the way they carry themselves.

What matters to us is whether they embody Toyota’s values of a challenger’s mindset and resilience. We look for individuals who continue to push forward when faced with setbacks, adapt when circumstances change, and remain committed to their goals even when the path is not straightforward.

Many of the athletes we work with are already contributing in tangible ways outside of competition. They are mentoring younger athletes, advocating for greater inclusion, or using their platforms to support causes they care about. That sense of responsibility and awareness is something we place a strong emphasis on.

We also consider the authenticity of their connection with audiences and their affinity with Toyota. Sporting results remain a part of the consideration, but they are not the defining factor. What matters most is identifying individuals who can inspire others and make a lasting contribution both in sport and in society.

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most culturally diverse regions. How does Toyota ensure that athlete partnerships resonate authentically across different societies while still maintaining a unified regional vision?

As Southeast Asia is incredibly diverse, our approach is to adapt our guiding principles in ways that feel locally relevant for each market.

Toyota’s approach to sport is centred on the belief that sport has the power to contribute positively to society beyond competition. We see athletes not only as competitors, but as individuals who can inspire participation, expand access, and help open up opportunities for others. This is aligned with our regional brand philosophy Move Your World, which supports people and communities in moving forward in ways that matter to them.

To bring this to life, we work closely with local Toyota teams and the athletes themselves to understand what matters on the ground. The same regional ambition may be expressed differently across countries depending on the sporting culture, audience expectations, and societal needs.

For us, authenticity comes from allowing local realities to guide our storytelling, while keeping a consistent regional belief that mobility should create access, participation, and progress for more people.

In an era where younger audiences increasingly value authenticity over advertising, how important is athlete storytelling in building emotional connections between a brand and the communities it serves?

Athlete storytelling is critical because it moves the focus beyond results. What resonates with audiences today is not just the outcome, but everything behind it: the setbacks, sacrifices, moments of doubt, and the relationships built along the way. These are experiences people can relate to, whether they follow sport or not.

When audiences understand the person behind the achievement, the connection becomes far more authentic and enduring than what traditional advertising can achieve on its own.

The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games (Sep 19, 2026 – Oct 4, 2026) will be the next big event in the sports world following the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Looking ahead to the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games and Asian Para Games, what legacy would Toyota like to leave behind; not only for sport, but for inclusion, accessibility, and opportunities for future generations across Asia?

Toyota’s relationship with sport goes back to the company’s early years, so we have always seen sport as more than competition. It brings people together, builds resilience, and encourages people to keep challenging themselves.

Looking ahead to Aichi-Nagoya 2026, one of the most important outcomes is for more people to see sport as something that belongs to everyone, and as a source of inspiration.

Sport has the ability to bring people together and demonstrate values that resonate in everyday life – resilience, perseverance, inclusion, and the belief that progress is possible regardless of individual circumstances. Major sporting events also bring visibility to athletes and different lived experiences that people may not otherwise encounter in their daily lives, which helps open up new ways of thinking about inclusion and accessibility.

If more young people feel encouraged to participate, more organisations take accessibility seriously, and more communities become inclusive as a result, we would consider that a great success. Success should be measured not just by what happens during the Games, but by what people carry with them afterwards, whether that is greater participation in sport, a more inclusive perspective, or the confidence to shape their futures.

If you could challenge other major corporations in Asia to rethink their role in sport, what is the one misconception about sponsorship that you believe needs to change most urgently?

If there’s one thing that we can encourage corporations across Asia to rethink, it’s the belief that sponsorship is simply a way to buy visibility. That framing treats sport as a media channel, and it actually underestimates the power of sport in society.

At Toyota, we believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. Sport expresses that very clearly. It shows the human spirit in action, whether that is an athlete pushing their limits, a community coming together to support them, or someone watching and feeling inspired to take their own next step.

The organisations that create the most long-term value are those that stop thinking only in campaigns and start thinking in commitment. That means supporting athletes and communities over time and giving employees the chance to experience and carry forward the spirit of sport in their own ways.

When approached this way, sponsorship becomes more than a moment of visibility, but a platform that encourages inclusion, participation, and lasting change.

Gentleman’s Code often explores the intersection of excellence, character, and leadership. Among the athletes Toyota supports, what common trait have you observed that distinguishes champions not only in sport, but also in life?

From my lens, these athletes never see their success as something that belongs to them alone. Such athletes are not always easy to find. There are many talented athletes, but it takes a particular kind of character to want to use that achievement to create something meaningful for others as well.

Through our conversations with athletes over the years, the ones who stand out are often asking themselves not only, “How do I get better?”, but also, “How can I use my experience to support others?” Whether it’s mentoring the next generation, or giving back to the community, they treat their influence as a responsibility, not just recognition.

That is also why the Dual Hero Projects are meaningful to us, as these projects are built around athletes who are willing to champion causes that genuinely matter to them and their communities.

In many ways, this reflects Toyota’s value of continuous improvement, or Kaizen. It is not just about becoming better for yourself but about using that progress to contribute to the people and communities around you.

Follow Preston Tan on Linkedin: preston-tan

www.toyota-asia.com