Honda's Accessible Cars are Headed to the Los Angeles Olympics

The Los Angeles Summer Olympics may be three years away, but brand sponsors are already lining up. 

Honda revealed today (June 2) that it is a founding partner of the LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a move that will see the carmaker provide use of its accessible vehicles to Olympians. 

The company has had a fleet of accessible vehicles, including models like the Odyssey, Accord, and C-RV, as part of its Honda Customer Mobility Assistance Program for almost 20 years. 

“It was a big reason the Olympics committee chose Honda and it’s a big reason for us to partner with the Olympics and the Paralympics,” Phil Hruska, director of auto marketing at American Honda, told ADWEEK. “It’s an opportunity for Honda to show our uniqueness with all the different mobility solutions that we have.” 

The sponsorship is “one of the biggest and most important” for Honda, explained Hruska. He declined to share specific figures on sponsorship and ad spend. 

Los Angeles also has particular significance for Honda because it is where the company established its first U.S. operation more than 65 years ago, Kazuhiro Takizawa, president and CEO of American Honda Motor Co., said in a statement. The company has 30,000 associates in the U.S. 

The company’s sponsorship as the official automotive partner to Team USA encompasses not only LA 2028 but also the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Milano Cortina, Italy. 

During the 2026 Games, the automaker will partner with NBC and plans to have a “big presence for both Honda and Acura,” as it looks to utilize its sponsorship throughout the full lead-up to LA 2028, said Hruska. 

“It’s a big opportunity for us to be creative,” he added. 

‘Go where the eyeballs are’

Some marketers began honing their messages for the LA Olympics during the 2024 Paris Games, as ADWEEK previously reported.

“Our marketing approach is to go where the eyeballs are and we want to seek out those big moments, the Olympics being one of the biggest available,” said Hruska. “That’s very appealing for us, having the opportunity to put our brands in front of a mass amount of people.” 

As far as messaging for the Games, Hruska noted that the company doesn’t have plans to switch up its current strategy. 

“One more beauty of this partnership is we don’t have to change our messaging,” he said. “We’ve been touting the ‘Power of Dreams’ in our brand campaigns around this Honda spirit and unstoppable dreams, and with the Olympics we just get to continue that.”