DETROIT — General Motors is bailing out on Tiger Woods.
Woods, a global icon in sports with his 14 major golf championships, has been carrying the Buick logo on his golf bag for the last nine years and still had one year left on his contract.
But GM was looking to cut costs and hoard cash while trying to survive the worst sales downturn in a quarter-century. And it said Monday the world’s No. 1 golfer wanted more time for himself, especially with a second child on the way.
“Timing is everything,” said Larry Peck, golf marketing manager for Buick. “We’ve had such a great partnership with Tiger. It’s hard for us to walk away from that. But this frees up time for him. And it sure frees up a lot of money for us.”
The endorsement deal, believed to be worth at least $7 million a year, was to expire at the end of 2009.
Woods has endorsed GM products around the world and mainly has been seen in Buick commercials as the company tried to give the nameplate a more youthful image. Peck said during the launch a few years ago of the Enclave that its research showed 78 percent of consumers who bought the SUV previously had not been Buick owners.
Buick’s U.S. sales have dropped 54 percent from 2000, the first full year Woods worked with GM, to 2007, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank. The brand’s global sales, however, rose 17 percent during that span, according to GM. Buick is particularly popular in China.
Woods’ agent at IMG, Mark Steinberg, said the decision to end the relationship one year early was “absolutely mutual.”
“It was a combination of things,” he said. “Tiger was looking to gain some more time, and certainly it was an opportunity for GM to reduce its spending with everything going on.”
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