Manchester United & Liverpool Sponsorship Deals to be Unaffected as Chevrolet Pulls Out of Europe

General Motors, whose Chevrolet brand sponsors Manchester United and Liverpool, will no longer produce Chevrolet cars in Europe but insist this will not affect their deals with the two Premier League clubs.

In a statement they accounted the end of the manufacturing of the cars to a ‘difficult economic situation’.

The statement read: “The company’s 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.

A Chevrolet spokesman told Marketing Week that the new company direction will not affect the Liverpool and Manchester United deals.

He said: “The partnership with Manchester United and Liverpool FC are of global nature and we intend to continue these relationships to help build our brand around the globe. We are particularly proud that as of the 2014/15 season,Chevrolet will be the shirt sponsor of Manchester United.”

Instead General Motors will focus on their Opel and Vauxhall brands.

“This will improve the Opel and Vauxhall brands and reduce the market complexity associated with having Opel and Chevrolet in Western and Eastern Europe,” the statement added.

“Europe is a key region for GM that will benefit from a stronger Opel and Vauxhall and further emphasis on Cadillac,” said GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson. “For Chevrolet, it will allow us to focus our investments where the opportunity for growth is greatest.”