General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker as measured by global industry sales, announced its decision to no longer sponsor the Academy Awards. The car maker’s decision to pull off its funding of one of the biggest annual events on broadcast television comes on the background of costs-cutting strategy following a $15.5 billion second-quarter loss.

The Detroit-based Corporation’s decision comes after it announced it would stop funding the Emmy Awards after more than ten years of sponsorship. General Motors has been on of the biggest spenders on the Oscars and it reportedly paid as much as $13.5 million for advertising time on the broadcast in February, the TNS Media Intelligence informed.

GM spokeswoman, Kelly Cusinato, said Monday that the company took the decision taking in consideration “current business challenges and the tightening of budgets.” Cusinato did not say how much GM spends on sponsorships for the Academy and Emmy Awards. However, for the last edition of Oscar night, GM was the only automotive sponsor and provided a fleet of vehicles for the transportation of the personalities involved in the annual event.

"It is a great property, but it simply didn't fit into our plans for 2009," a company spokesperson said according to the Wall Street Journal.

After posting a $15.5 billion 2Q loss, General Motors reconsidered its advertising spending after it announced last month that it follows a plan under which it will save $10 billion a year.

ABC earns as much as $80 million in ad dollars per ear from the Academy Awards broadcast, Nielsen Monitor-Plus said. The list of other big companies which sponsored the show includes American Express Co., Coca-Cola Co., J.C. Penney Co. and McDonald's Corp.