Chevrolet Drops Woodward Dream Cruise Sponsorship

DETROIT, MI — Chevrolet, the General Motors brand most closely associated with America’s love affair with muscle cars, has pulled its six-year sponsorship of the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, an annual August that parades thousands of classic cars down Woodward Avenue, the first paved road anywhere in America.

Communities along Woodward Avenue, from Detroit to Pontiac, participate in the Dream Cruise, held annually on the third Saturday in August and this year on Aug. 19. Now in its 23rd year, the Dream Cruise attracts more than 1 million visitors and about 40,000 classic, muscle and collector cars.

(For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Flint Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The largest of the Dream Cruise sponsors, Chevrolet dropped its sponsorship with little fanfare sometime earlier this year. The company said the decision was made in a routine evaluation of sponsorships and the value they bring to the Chevy brand. When the six-year deal, $1 million sponsorship deal was negotiated in 2011, General Motors called it a “natural partnership.”

“While we are no longer the sponsor, we still see great value in engaging with Chevy fans, so we will continue to have our displays in Birmingham and Royal Oak to showcase our products and celebrate the summer tradition of cruising along Woodward Avenue,” the company said in an emailed statement to The Detroit News.

Announcement of a new presenting sponsor is expected in about a week. It’s unclear if either of other Detroit Big Three automakers — Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co. and Auburn Hills-based Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — will take Chevy’s place.

Image: More than 1 million people visit Metro Detroit every August for the Woodward Dream Cruise, the world’s largest one-day auto event. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images News/Getty Images)