AZIMUT|BENETTI GROUP: APAC leads the world sales growth for Benetti Yachts

With production value standing at €850m, up €100m on the previous year, Azimut|Benetti Group closes the 2020/21 yachting season with great satisfaction. The order book increased three-fold on the previous season and now stands at 1 billion 200 million euros.

Despite a physiological production slowdown due to shifting organization issues resulting from anti-Covid policies and procurement difficulties in the supply chain, the Group has seized the moment of commercial exuberance that has characterised the last six months with its two Azimut Yachts and Benetti brands, delivering a total of 245 boats. This figure is dominated by the most appealing models on the market, thanks to their distinctive characteristics in terms of design, innovative technology and sustainability.

At geographical level, while there is confirmation that sales are balanced across the three main continents, the APAC region has leapt forward, rising to 15% of total sales and proving to be a particularly promising market. Benetti Yachts Asia Pacific region accounted for nearly a quarter of the brand's sales, making it the top sales region.

The stand-outs are Azimut Yachts’ new flagship, the Trideck, of which 10 units had already been sold before the official debut at Cannes 2021, and Benetti's Oasis 40M, which to date has sold 14 units in the 2020/21 season. It is also worthy to note that the unprecedented success of the Verve 47, the outboard positioned at the high premium end of the segment, of which a total of 55 units have been sold. 30 units out of these 55 units were sold at the end of the latest fiscal year.

It should also be remembered that more than half the value of production (about €570m of the total €850m) was contributed to the boats over 80 feet in length, a segment in which the Group's leadership has been further consolidated as a result of growing popularity on the international market.

However, the most satisfying result is the order book, which has increased three-fold compared to the previous season. It now stands at €1.2bn, of which about €900m were booked for models over 80 feet in length. Of this €900m, €508m were booked in the last 90 days for the net of boats delivered in this period.

“I close my first year as Group CEO,” said Marco Valle, “fully aware that we have achieved the challenging objectives we set ourselves. I am also looking ahead to the upcoming season buoyed by the excellent order book, which has practically saturated production for the year that has just begun, and I am very confident that the new projects we are working on will allow us to continue along our organic growth path in the medium term too.”

Valle’s words were echoed by Giovanna Vitelli, Group Executive Vice President: “It is a source of pride for me to see that the industrial strategy defined by the Company, based on the development of products that are increasingly innovative and visionary, continues to prove successful. Today our biggest challenge is to continue our research into environmental sustainability. After definitively achieving our goal of reducing consumption (by at least 40%) and therefore emissions, through the use of carbon fibre and optimised hulls and propulsion systems, we are working on other technical solutions to offer yachts that are ever more respectful of the environment.” The Group confirms investments in Research and Development of over €100m in the three-year period.