Frankfurt, Nov 7: German car-maker Adam Opel AG is hoping to score some scoring some major publicity goals on the Soccer pitches of Europe as it gears up for a massive global sales offensive.

Opel, a unit of US auto giant General Motors, spends some 50 million marks ($29.2 million) a year to put its lightning bolt symbol on the jerseys of teams such as Germany's Bayern Munich, Paris-St. Germain of France and Italy's AC Milan.

The Munich contract alone, which Opel has held since 1989 and renewed last week for a further five-year term, costs the car-maker about six million marks for Germany's best-known team.

Opel also sponsors the French, Austrian and Irish national soccer teams as well as clubs in key markets such as Belgium and the Czech Republic.

Some auto industry experts question such spending, saying the link between the exposure provided and cars sold is slight.

And at a time when Opel's image is suffering from customer complaints and a series of embarrassing recalls, there are fears that Opel may score an own goal and should instead be putting more emphasis on publicising product quality.

But Opel, like its European rivals, keeps pouring money in.

"Anyone who doubts such sponsoring should remember that Opel for years was viewed as a car for old people who even wore their hats inside cars," said Peter Strahlendorf, publisher of a German magazine on advertising and marketing.

"Now it is a sportier model and Opel's market share has certainly risen," he said.

The German unit of Ford Motor Co is reported to spend about three million marks a year on its local team in Cologne, and Opel's main rival Volkswagen AG, spends about the same amount on its Wolfsburg club.Asian car-makers are also making an offensive into German sports sponsoring. South Korea's Hyundai spends about 2.8 million marks on Hamburger SV and Japan's Mitsubishi is the main sponsor of second-division leader Frankfurt Eintracht.

Opel executives dismiss the criticism, saying the sports marketing budget -- which also covers sponsorship deals for tennis stars and lesser-known sports such as field hockey and table tennis - do show up in the car-maker's sales results.

"It's an important way of reaching potential customers," said Jim Latham, manager of GM Europe's sports communications. "The market research shows that our brand recognition is rising, particularly in France and Italy."

Indeed, Opel says it has a 20-per cent share of the car market in Munich, home of BMW AG, and claims it has seen sales gains in northern Italy among buyers who identify with AC Milan.

The heavy sports promotion, particularly Opel's decision to become an official sponsor of the 1998 soccer World Cup in France, will be critical as it seeks to build brand awareness in Asia and Latin America - two important new markets.

Opel has no current plans to sponsor soccer teams in Asia since the infrastructure to tie sports promotions to dealers is insufficient. Instead, the car-maker will use its top European teams and the World Cup for which Opel reportedly paid some $20 million to sponsor.But the risks of such sponsoring deals are growing.Some 40 corporate sponsors have been selected for the World Cup, sparking concern among some companies that they will be overshadowed in the battle for brand recognition.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.