Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Group, referenced the congratulations Hyundai Motor sent late last year for the 2025 World Rally Championship (WRC) title and said, "The 'call and response' between rivals is truly great communication."
On the 9th, at a press conference for the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, Chairman Toyoda ranked "achieving the WRC triple crown and congratulations from Korea" as No. 9 in the "top 10 news of 2025." In last season's WRC, Toyota swept the manufacturer, driver, and co-driver categories.
In response, on Dec. 22 last year, Hyundai placed ads in major media in Korea and Japan congratulating Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (TGR-WRT). It was also in reply to the congratulatory ad Toyota ran when Thierry Neuville of Hyundai's World Rally Team won the driver category last year. The ad featured the phrase "Beyond competition" along with images of key figures including Chairman Toyoda.
That day, Chairman Toyoda said, "Hyundai Motor, Ford, and Toyota are fiercely competing in the top category," and emphasized, "I think it is important that such a public contest is unfolding."
He added, "If they (Hyundai Motor) had won, of course they should be congratulated," and said, "I originally thought the manufacturer championship would go to Hyundai Motor, but Toyota won with a miraculous turnaround at the last minute." He also shared a backstory that they had to revise an ad draft that had been prepared in advance to congratulate Hyundai on its anticipated victory due to Toyota's comeback.
Chairman Toyoda described this relationship with Hyundai Motor as "call and response." In other words, when one team first showcases overwhelming technology, the competitor counters by developing even more innovative technology to surpass it—what he called a "healthy competition" relationship.
Chairman Toyoda has long expressed the philosophy that "those who make cars are all colleagues." He is actually close with Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Eui-sun. In Oct. 2024, the two companies co-hosted the "Hyundai N x Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival" at Everland Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi. Just a month later, the 2024 WRC was held in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, where Chung visited the site and met with Chairman Toyoda.