I noticed on a test track sign instead of just saying GM it says disney and GM. Out of curiosity what's the story behind that one?
I did some Googling!
By all appearances, General Motors, the Detroit auto giant forced through bankruptcy last year, remains sponsor of the Test Track attraction at Epcot. Even though GM’s $100 million sponsorship contract with Walt Disney World is believed to have expired last year and there was never any announcement of a renewal, the company’s logo and presence is still splashed all around the pavilion.
Still, there are some signs around Test Track of the painful restructuring that GM is going through.
For example, GM has pulled cars from the brands it plans drop (Saturn, Hummer, Saab and Pontiac) from the swanky showroom that guests walk through when they exit the ride, such as a Saturn VUE hybrid that until recently was on display in the area. The only cars displayed now are from GMC, Chevy, Buick and Cadillac, GM’s remaining core brands.
GM has also removed a large model Hummer made of wood that had been something of a minor attraction in Test Track’s gift shop. (The model was large enough for a crash-test dummy to sit in the driver’s seat). In its place: One of Disney World’s much smaller souvenir model monorails, which does laps around a small pile of boxes of the toys.
Below is a short story from the middle of last year about the status of GM’s Test Track sponsorship.
Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
June 22, 2009 Monday
FINAL
Sponsorship stuck in NEUTRAL
BYLINE: Jason Garcia, Sentinel Staff Writer
SECTION: CFB; FLORIDA; Pg. M4
LENGTH: 744 words
Three weeks after General Motors Corp. filed for bankruptcy — and nearly three months after an internal deadline to resolve the issue — the carmaker’s status as sponsor of one of Walt Disney World’s marquee attractions remains uncertain.
Executives for GM and Disney have continued to negotiate a possible contract extension to keep the beleaguered Detroit auto giant as sponsor of Epcot’s Test Track. But so far nothing has been announced.
Neither side is talking, at least publicly. “We have nothing new to share,” Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said recently.
A spokeswoman for GM did not return messages seeking comment.
The sponsorship of Test Track, a high-speed ride that carries guests through a series of simulated car-safety tests, has been the subject of speculation for months. GM’s 10-year contract is thought to have expired at the end of March — which is also the public deadline GM had originally set for negotiating an extension.
GM has said it wants to remain Test Track’s sponsor. But it is an expensive proposition for a company that this month became the second-largest industrial bankruptcy in U.S. history.
GM paid Disney $100 million for the sponsorship, according to a person familiar with the contract. The deal was front-loaded: GM paid nearly all of its sponsorship fees during the first five years of the 10-year pact, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of either company.
GM also spends between $1 million and $2 million a year operating a post-ride showroom inside the attraction, with more than a dozen vehicles on display and terminals that guests can use to order sales brochures.
The company’s contract-extension talks with Disney have been further complicated by the involvement of the federal government, which has kept GM afloat with tens of billions of dollars in loans and is about to become majority owner of the iconic company. Some worry the company could face a public backlash if it is seen as using taxpayer money to underwrite a theme-park ride.
Still, the marketing appeal is obvious. Test Track — among the biggest draws in a theme park that lures 11 million customers each year — gives GM a unique platform from which to build goodwill for its brands.
Since March, rumors have circulated around Epcot that Disney was permitting GM to stay on a month-to-month basis while negotiations continued.
The person familiar with the contract, who said he had been briefed on the talks, said GM and Disney were poised to sign a six-month contract extension just days before the carmaker’s June 1 bankruptcy filing. The deal would have allowed GM to forgo paying Disney a sponsorship fee but would have required it to continue paying for the post-ride showroom.
The agreement would have ensured that GM remained Test Track’s sponsor through the end of 2009 — and spared both the carmaker and Disney the expense of erasing GM’s presence from the attraction.
It’s not clear, however, whether such an agreement was signed. Disney would not discuss the talks in any detail.
A sponsorship change any time soon appears unlikely. Experts say finding another car company to replace GM will be difficult for Disney, as the entire auto industry has been hammered by the global recession. Any new sponsor would also likely have to spend a significant amount of money to update and re-theme Test Track.
“We find it difficult to believe another manufacturer would be able to rationalize such an expensive partnership in today’s environment,” Richard Greenfield, an analyst at the stock-research firm Pali Capital, wrote in a blog post earlier this year.
Two of the companies often rumored as potential Test Track sponsors — Toyota and Honda — both said they were not interested.
“We have no plans to sponsor that,” said Marcos Frommer, spokesman for American Honda Motor Co.
Added Toyota Motor Sales USA spokesman Joe Tetherow: “This is something that’s not even on the radar.”
A representative for Ford did not return a phone message.
While the fees at stake are a relatively minor amount for the Walt Disney Co., Greenfield said they are an example of the varied ways the recession has squeezed the Burbank, Calif.-based company.
Sponsorship uncertainty “illustrates how the economic meltdown is impacting aspects of Disney’s businesses that we had not even thought about previously,” he wrote.
CONTACT: Jason Garcia can be reached at jrgarcia@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5414.
Interesting, i like GM a lot, but considering they are in such financial troubles i feel the money could go somewhere better. I wonder what company they would target, probably an american brand.
Considering there are only two American automotive companies, GM being one, Ford the other...unless Ford is willing to hand over the money, it may just go un-sponsored.
Before anyone goes all postal about Chrysler being an American company...they're not. Have not been since the Daimler deal back in the '90's. Now they're mostly owned by Fiat - which, as we all know, stands for Fix It Again, Tony....
Toyota, Nissan and Honda are American Companies. They all have North American divisions and a majority of the vehicles they sell to us are made by us. More American then GM and Ford who build their cars in Canada and Mexico.
The goodwill and product exposure is well worth the money needed to support the pavillion. It should just be considered advertising (which it is) and remain as such. I love the showroom and sometimes skip the ride and just peruse the new vehicles. I really don't think the money could be spent elsewhere to a bettering effect. JMHO
^^^ im not buying a car just because it was at disney. Besides, united technologies also built tanks and military equipment. Checkout michigan as their home.Kodak is a thing of the past, if you see the picture of the day thread, there are no kodak cameras involved, or anything about them. GM has now paid back the gov, or so we believe, lets just hope they now take care of their employees and business so as not to rely on me. I think TT should be a cosponsor with all companies showing futuristic cars and new technology vehicles, not just one brand anymore. Would you buy BP gas now that they have a pavilion? not me.
Toyota, Nissan and Honda are American Companies. They all have North American divisions and a majority of the vehicles they sell to us are made by us. More American then GM and Ford who build their cars in Canada and Mexico.
I love how the three " American" truck brands boast about being American trucks. My dodge Ram 2500 was made in Mexico.
It doesn't bother or concern me too much that GM remains the sponsor. If they were to leave, and another car company wasn't willing to sponsor, I would be interested to see the result. I am not terribly fond of nor attached to Test Track in its current state, and since its predecessor is long gone and unlikely to come back, a re-purposing of the pavilion would appeal to me. The essence of the pavilion is motion, which if it is to remain, leaves open possibilities for sponsorship from a range of industries, not just automotive.
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