General Motors Ponders WRC Return

The economic climate is becoming more stable for General Motors and, as a direct result, the US giant tries to repair its seriously-affected image after it had to beg for government support in almost every country it was selling cars. GM's European arm is now looking to bring back the company into spotlights by returning to motorsport, a move that would clearly bring young buyers back into the company's yard.

Still, General Motors is unsure where to inject more money, but the World Rally Championship and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters are two possible destinations.

“Sport is an important area, and to me, a car company ought to be able to compete,” Nick Reilly, president of the company's European operations, said in a statement according to Autonews. “It's very significant to us, the brand image, and in our view it's not as strong as the product. We're winning lots of awards but Opel and Vauxhall probably don't command the prices they deserve.”

Of course, returning to motosports actually represents a very costly and risky move for GM Europe but the company seems prepared to take the risks, as some of the European buyers are still trying to stay away of its brands due to the $50 million government bailout it received on the Old Continent.

“I get very excited by touring car racing and I think it's done the Chevrolet brand quite a bit of help in some places,” Reilly said.

Reilly hasn't mentioned which are the brands that could compete in the WRC but, regardless if we're talking about Chevrolet or Opel, it would have to compete against Ford and Peugeot-Citroen, two names that have already made history in the series.