Corvette ban for Man Utd youngsters

Sir Alex Ferguson has banned young Man Utd football stars from driving Corvettes following the announcement of a new sponsorship deal between GM and the Premier League team.

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Chevrolet will become Man Utd shirt sponsor and official car supplier from the 2014-15 season – and the firm has already offered to supply high-performance Chevrolet Corvettes to the first team players.

Sir Alex has, however, decreed that only players aged 23 and over will be allowed to drive the team’s Corvettes.

This means that stars such as Danny Wellbeck, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Rafael will all be excluded from the Corvette ‘company car’ deal, it is today reported.

They will, however, be allowed to drive other Chevrolet models, including the Spark, Aveo, Cruze and Orlando…

The seven-year Chevrolet sponsorship deal with Manchester United has proven controversial since it was announced. The reported £350m paid by the GM division was a record-breaking sum whose true size, it was later reported, was concealed from management by former marketing boss Joel Ewanick.

He has since left the firm.

Chevrolet replaces Audi as official car supplier for Man Utd, and will replace AON as official shirt sponsor. The multi-year deal is intended to increase global awareness for Chevrolet, and comes as the firm pulls back from its involvement in motorsport series such as the World Touring Car championship.

The deal also begins in time for Man Utd players aged 23 and over to get into the new Corvette, slated for launch next year as a 2014 model. This is rumoured to be getting an all-new V8 engine which will produce around 450hp even in base form…

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