General Motors to pull struggling Chevrolet brand out of Europe by 2015
General Motors (GM) has abandoned plans to increase the exposure of the Chevrolet brand in Europe, having announced today that it will it pull out of the market by the end of 2015.
In June this year, GM CEO Dan Akerson said there would be a concerted effort to raise consumer awareness of Chevrolet in Europe and appointed Thomas Sedran to the role of president and managing director of Chevrolet Europe.
At the time, Vijay Iyer, director of communications for Chevrolet Europe, played down reports that the brand would be “suddenly out there”, but said there were plans to slowly build its presence and perception in the market.
He explained that GM saw it as a “culture change” across the whole look, feel and tonality of Chevrolet.
Instead of a big brand campaign, it was planning to focus on targeted collaborations with films, like Dreamworks’ ‘Turbo’, and YouTube content creators.
Now the company will “work with individual dealers” from its 1,900-strong distribution network to determine their future, according to Reuters.
According to reports, Chevolet’s sister brands, Opel and Vauxhall, which have performed marginally better in Europe, could be positively affected by the withdrawal as the move will eliminate some competition from the same market they both targeted.
IPG Commonwealth handled the brand's creative work in Europe while Carat was appointed to its media planning and buying account.