US automotive giant General Motors has said its decision to close its Chevrolet operation in western and eastern Europe will not affect the brand’s sponsorship deals with English Premier League football clubs Manchester United and Liverpool.
GM today announced that, beginning in 2016, it will compete in Europe’s volume markets under its Opel and Vauxhall brands.
The company said its Chevrolet brand will no longer have a mainstream presence in western and eastern Europe, largely due to a “challenging business model and the difficult economic situation” in Europe.
Chevrolet, the fourth-largest global automotive brand, will instead tailor its presence to offering select iconic vehicles – such as the Corvette – in western and eastern Europe, and will continue to have a broad presence in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Manchester United in August 2012 announced that its shirt sponsorship deal with Chevrolet will bring in a record-breaking $559m (€411m) over the seven-year duration of the agreement.
United’s partnership with the brand will commence in the 2014-15 season and run through 2020-21.
Chevrolet also serves as the official automotive partner of Liverpool under a four-year deal that is due to run through the 2015-16 season.
A spokesman for Chevrolet in the UK told the MotorTorque.com website: “The deals with Manchester United and Liverpool FC are global deals and will not be affected by Chevrolet pulling out of the UK market.”
In other news, Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has said the club’s financial strength means its owners, the Glazer family, will never attempt to sell the naming rights to its Old Trafford stadium.
Woodward told fanzine United We Stand: “It's important that Old Trafford is Old Trafford. The Glazers are actually very traditional in their views. People have asked us the question, asked us if we would consider (selling the naming rights). We won't.”