Sponsoring Team Land Cruiser TOYOTA AUTO BODY at the Dakar Rally 2020
- Certification of the extent of quality, durability and reliability -

February 10, 2020

  • We acted as sponsor to Team Land Cruiser TOYOTA AUTO BODY, which is managed by Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd., and participated in the Dakar Rally 2020.
  • This is the fifteenth time we have sponsored this team, which participates in the production car category.
  • Furukawa Electric aluminum wire harnesses are used in the team’s rally cars, contributing to lighter vehicle bodies and improved fuel efficiency.

Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (Head Office: 2-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Keiichi Kobayashi) sponsored “Team Land Cruiser TOYOTA AUTO BODY” (managed by Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd.) in the “Dakar Rally 2020 Saudi Arabia” held from January 5 to 17, 2020, contributing to the team’s seventh successive victory in the production car category.

Background

Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd., which manages “Team Land Cruiser TOYOTA AUTO BODY,” continues to take on the challenge of the Dakar Rally’s production car division, aiming to “make a better Land Cruiser.” The company has been collecting used cooking oil since 2009 from inside the company and nearby schools and regions for use as refined bio-diesel, etc., and also puts energy into environmental awareness.
The event was held for the first time in Saudi Arabia, the vast majority of which is desert, with a course of about 7,800 km set under the theme of returning to “adventure,” the origin of the Dakar Rally.
The technology refined in the Dakar Rally, which is said to be the harshest form of motor sport in the world, is also applied to ordinary vehicles.
Furukawa Electric agrees with Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd.’s participation in rallies, proof also of the extent of its quality, durability and reliability, and this year welcomed the 15th year of its sponsorship of the company’s appearances in the Dakar Rally.

S124M12 Optical Fiber Ribbon Fusion Splicer

TEAM LAND CRUISER TOYOTA AUTO BODY
Photo by courtesy of Toyota Auto Body

Details

Furukawa Electric acted as sponsor to Team Land Cruiser TOYOTA AUTO BODY, the rally team of Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd., and supplied wire harnesses using Furukawa Electric aluminum wires for the team’s rally cars based on the Land Cruiser 200 Series. By doing so, we raised fuel efficiency through the lighter weight of the vehicle bodies and contributed to the achievement of the team’s seventh successive victory in the “Dakar Rally Production Car Division.”
Because the raw material for the biodiesel fuel the team uses is plant-derived, it is said to have little impact on the environment, being carbon-neutral and highly biodegradable. Improving fuel efficiency also contributes to reducing the environmental burden.

What is the Dakar Rally?

Started in 1979 as a challenge to the huge Sahara Desert by the French adventurer Thierry Sabine, who was mesmerized by Africa, the race is known as the pinnacle of cross-country rallies and the world’s harshest form of motor sport. In 2020, the race was held for the first time in Saudi Arabia, the majority of which is desert. The race unfolded over a course of about 7,800 kilometers, themed on a return to the “adventure” that was the origin of the Dakar Rally. Complex navigation was called for in the first half, and the second half saw participants pass long stretches of sand dunes, making for a race very reminiscent of the Paris-Dakar events held previously in Africa.

What are Furukawa Electric’s aluminum wire harnesses?

Furukawa Electric aluminum wire harnesses excel in making lighter products for vehicle internal wiring, and the number of vehicle models that use them is increasing.