Toyota announced Thursday that its political action committee would no longer make donations to Republican members of Congress who objected to certifying the presidential election results in January, after uproar over news that the automaker’s corporate PAC had supported those lawmakers at a higher level than other PACs.

“Toyota is committed to supporting and promoting actions that further our democracy,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “We understand that the PAC decision to support select Members of Congress who contested the results troubled some stakeholders. We are actively listening to our stakeholders and, at this time, we have decided to stop contributing to those Members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election.”

The decision came after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in June reported that Toyota directly contributed a total of $56,000 to 38 of the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted against President Biden's electoral certification.

CREW also said it was the most money any one company contributed to lawmakers who opposed certification.

Japan's biggest car manufacturer faced criticism in the wake of the disclosure and subsequent coverage in the media.

The Lincoln Project, a group largely made up of Republicans critical of former US President Donald Trump, posted an advert calling on Toyota to stop making donations to lawmakers who voted against President Biden's election certification.

A CREW spokesperson welcomed Toyota's decision but said, "it shouldn't take a public pressure campaign to get them to do the right thing, but we're glad it worked."

Since the attack on the Capitol, dozens of companies have changed their policies on contributions to politicians.

In February, Microsoft said its political action committee would suspend all donations until the end of 2022 to the 147 lawmakers who voted against President Biden's certification.

For the same period it also halted contributions to state officials and organisations who called for the election result to be overturned.

Google and General Electric's political action committees also suspended donations until the end of 2022.

More than 535 people have been arrested and charged for joining the 6 January attack on the US Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Biden's election victory over President Trump.