BMW sign up as London 2012 top-tier sponsor

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

GERMAN car manufacturer BMW has signed up as a top-tier partner of the London 2012 Olympics.

OFFICIAL STATUS: Volkswagen were the official car supplier to last year's Beijing Olympics. BMW will perform that role at London 2012

The announcement, which will be confirmed at a press conference later this morning, is thought to be worth between £30-£50 million.

London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton had originally said he didn't expect to announce any more top-level sponsors and would focus his commercial team on lower level partnerships.

"There is high probability that we are done on tier one sponsorships," he said, just two months ago.

Sports marketing experts had expressed surprise that London had not sold the automative partner category in their sponsorship portfolio.

However, today's news takes London 2012's sponsorship revenue above £600 million - closing in on Deighton's upscaled £700 million target.

The deal will allow both BMW and their Mini brand to leverage the London 2012 logo. Rolls-Royce, the traditional car of choice for International Olympic Committee VIPs, is a subsidiary of the BMW Group.

In addition to providing a fleet of more than 4,000 cars, BMW will also provide motorcycles and bicycles and will be expected to meet stiff low carbon targets.

“Operationally, an automotive deal is vital for any organising committee and so I’m thrilled BMW is on board,” said London 2012 chairman Lord Coe.

“They share our vision to stage a sustainable Games in 2012 and will be a valued partner.

"On a commercial level, signing another tier one partner in this challenging environment is a fantastic achievement but it goes to show the inspirational power of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.”

Earlier this year BMW hit the headlines after confirming 850 job cuts from their Mini car plant near Oxford - a move that hit agency workers, who claimed they were not entitled to full redundancy pay.

However, the iconic British brand has continued to boost the fortunes of parent firm BMW, according to figures announced earlier this month.

Between July and September the group saw its pre-tax profit slide from £255m to £113m – a drop of almost 55 per cent – with sales of BMW-branded cars down by 9.2 per cent to 263,864 and Rolls Royce down more than 60 per cent to 132.

But 60,104 Minis were sold, a rise of 3.4 per cent.

BMW is the seventh top-tier partner of the 2012 Olympics, joining Adidas, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF Energy and Lloyds TSB.