General Motors Corp. agreed to discontinue a marketing accord with Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer, at year’s end as plummeting sales spur cost cuts at the automaker.
Woods, 32, endorsed GM products including Buick for the past 9 years. He had been under contract through 2009, Pete Ternes, a spokesman for the Detroit-based automaker, said today.
The need for “budget efficiencies during a difficult economy” contributed to the decision, according to a statement from GM, which is seeking to cut U.S. marketing expenses by 20 percent. Sales of Buick vehicles dropped 24 percent through the first 10 months of this year, outpacing the 20 percent decline for all of GM’s cars and light trucks.
Sales of Buick vehicles in the U.S. plunged 58 percent to 185,791 units from 1999 to 2007, more than any other GM brand in the period. Sales of the 105-year-old Buick brand peaked in 1984 at 941,611, according to trade publication Automotive News.
Woods made $122.7 million in on-course earnings and endorsements last year, according to Golf Digest magazine. GM posted almost $73 billion in losses since 2004.
GM will continue sponsoring the Buick Invitational in California and Buick Open in Michigan indefinitely, said Ternes. The company is the largest and original PGA Tour sponsor, according to Buick’s Web site.
GM gained 53 cents, or 17 percent, to $3.59 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. That was GM’s biggest percentage increase since Oct. 13.
Source: Bloomberg
