NOVEMBER 2, 2001

Nippon Mitsubishi Oil to move into sponsorship?

We have been hearing rumors for some time from Europe that Japan's Nippon Mitsubishi Oil company may be in the process of expanding its involvement in Formula 1.

WE have been hearing rumors for some time from Europe that Japan's Nippon Mitsubishi Oil company may be in the process of expanding its involvement in Formula 1. At the moment the company, Japan's largest oil company, is the official supplier of fuel and lubricants to British American Racing. The products involved are developed jointly by NMOC and Honda R & D.

We now hear that the company is considering actual sponsorship to help to increase brand awareness. The company was only formed a couple of years ago when Nippon Oil bought Mitsubishi Oil and the combined operation has a 23% share of the Japanese petrol market and runs 12,600 service stations across Japan. The domestic Japanese market is highly-competitive at the moment as foreign companies move in following the deregulation of oil imports in 1996. The slack economy is also causing Nippon Mitsubishi to look to foreign markets and the company has been involved in some small sponsorships in Asian racing. The company's longest running sponsorship is as a technical sponsor of the Mitsubishi Team in the World Rally Championship and on the Paris-Dakar Rally.