Toyota, the car manufacturer, has revealed a shift in its approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes, announcing that it will no longer sponsor cultural events and parades such as LGBTQ+ Pride in the US.
The announcement cames after hard-line right-wing pundit Robby Starbuck took to X/Twitter to condemn the company for its commitment to DEI.
The firm was “one of the most-trusted brands in America but [has] gone totally woke”, he wrote. “I don’t think the values at corporate reflect the values many Toyota/Lexus owners have (with the exception of maybe Prius owners who probably like the woke stuff).”
In a memo shared with 50,000 US employees and over 1,500 dealerships, the company explained that the decision was a result of a highly politicized discussion regarding business commitments to DEI.
The memo indicated that Toyota would no longer sponsor cultural events, including festivals and parades, unless they were directly connected to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) education or workforce readiness.
Bloomberg reported that Toyota also intends to withdraw from participating in cultural surveys and will discontinue its involvement in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) annual Corporate Equality Index, where the company had once received a perfect score for its DEI efforts.
The car manufacturer plans to redirect its employee resource groups to focus on professional development, networking, and mentoring, aligning these efforts more closely with business objectives.

Starbucks who argued that the corporate values did not reflect those of most Toyota and Lexus owners, apart from perhaps Prius owners, who he implied might support such initiatives wrote after Toyota’s announcement.
“We’re winning and one by one we will bring sanity back to corporate America.” This seems to be his standard catchphrase.”
Fellow car-maker Ford, along with Harley-Davidson, John Deere and tool maker Stanley Black & Decker have all recently taken similar steps.