ING reduces its sponsorship in Formula 1

ING, official sponsor of Renault, announced that it will reduce its spending on Formula 1 sponsorship due to its financial problems.

The Dutch company expects a loss of 1 billion euros for 2008 due to the global financial crisis. To offset the losses, the company announced a comprehensive cost-cutting program that includes laying off 7,000 people.

In a statement released this Monday by the company itself, ING confirmed that one of the measures will be to implement a reduction in its F1 sponsorship.

« ING will reduce its operating expenses by 1 billion euros in 2009. The structural reduction in expenses will lead to annual savings of approximately 1.1 billion euros starting from 2010. 35% of these savings will be achieved by a reduction of around 7,000 full-time positions in 2009. »

« The remainder of the cost reduction comes from lower costs by our head office, which includes marketing and the Formula 1 program. Reduction fees of 650 million euros will then be realized in the Bank and 350 million euros in insurance. »

In addition to being the official sponsor of Renault, ING also sponsored the races and in 2008 advertised the Australian, Belgian, and Hungarian Grand Prix.

This year, and against all odds, the company will continue to promote the Australian, Belgian, Hungarian, and Turkish races.

January Hommen, President of ING, stated: « Naturally, I am disappointed by our results in this very challenging context. With the continuation of these difficulties, we believe it is important to take additional measures to reduce risks. »

« We sincerely regret the impact that some of these measures will have, but they are essential to adapt our organization in this new climate. »