Amul to sponsor Sauber F1 at Indian GP

Indian milk giant Amul has announced its association with Sauber F1 team for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix to be held at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida from 28-30 October. Amul logos will thus appear on the front face of the rear wing of the Sauber C30 as well as drivers’ helmets.

Speaking exclusively to AUTOCAR INDIA, R S Sodhi, Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd – which manages the Amul brand said, “It’s a global event being held in India for the first time and being Asia’s largest milk producer we couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to showcase ourselves to the world. The sport has extreme physical demands and is heavily nutrition-oriented, and thus gives us an opportunity to associate with something which mirrors our brand values of nutrition and health along with technology – given the fact that we have pioneered several processes in the industry since our inception.”

In a statement, Monisha Kaltenborn, CEO, Sauber F1 said, “We are proud to announce this partnership with Amul, one of India’s leading brands. Amul products are present in practically every household. Having spent my childhood in Dehradun, India, I have fond memories of Amul products.”

“There are many energy drinks’ brands already involved in F1 but we’ll be the first all-natural food product with on-car presence”, continued Sodhi. And on the question of specifically partnering Sauber, he quipped, “Obviously we did our research and ultimately chose a team which offered us the best overall package – referring to visibility and investment.” Although he declined to comment on the exact size of the deal, he hinted, “We are known for offering quality with value for money and we expect the same from our investments”, but according to our estimate it should be worth well over 100,000 euro (about Rs 66.70 lakh) plus judging by the on-car visibility being commanded by Amul.

Quizzed on whether the co-operative would continue to invest in F1 post-Indian GP, Sodhi replied in favour provided their debut effort proved worthwhile. Additionally, product integration in form of GP-special packs for products like butter, milk and ice-cream has been planned are expected to hit the shelves in the run up to the Grand Prix.