Thursday, October 25, 2012
Ft. Lauderdale, FL. October 25, 2012 – The Ferretti Group, a world leader in the design, construction and sale of motor-yachts, comprising a unique portfolio of some of the most exclusive and prestigious brands in the nautical world, presents its new corporate operating structure, focused on a stronger localized sales and distribution presence in key markets with the integration of the North America and Latin American markets and a stronger presence at the 53rd Annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Throughout the last 12 months, the Group has undergone a series of notable accomplishments, including a new shareholding structure, a new organizational structure and another record sales year for the American markets. Through the new strategic partnership with the Weichai Group, which acquired a controlling interest in the Ferretti Group, and under the leadership of newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Ferruccio Rossi, the Group has reorganized the corporate operating structure with a focus on further strengthening the Group’s unique brands and its centralized product development and engineering capabilities. The new organization will focus on the distinctive individuality of the brands with the product development, manufacturing and brand management teams in Italy focused on the ‘made in Italy’ tradition. This new directive will also implement a more globalized sales, marketing, and service footprint with a localized operating presence in each region, specifically Europe Middle East & Africa (EMEA), the Americas and Asia-Pacific (APAC). The result of this new corporate structure will be a ‘Glocal’ approach combining the world’s most extensive and diversified product and brand offering, designed and built by the Ferretti Group in Italy, and in America for Bertram, with a localized distribution and service network in each region.The Group also announced that Founder, Norberto Ferretti, will remain strongly vested in the Ferretti Group, serving as Honorary Chairman, where he will actively participate in guiding and advising the product development and engineering teams in new model development. Mr. Ferretti will also continue his role as an advisor to the Chief Executive Officer and as an ambassador to the group representing the organization and its brands. “Thanks to the exceptional skills of Norberto Ferretti, Ferruccio Rossi, all the top management, and experts in this sector, we are sure that we will increase the synergies of our Group, through sharing resources and industrial integration, which will allow us to further consolidate our international leading position in the nautical and luxury market of the Ferretti Group,” stated Chairman Tan.“The importance of “Italian Made” and the unique heritage of each brand are driving characteristics that underlie every purchase by Ferretti clients around the world and it is therefore essential to protect and nurture this throughout all the shipyards of the Group,” further commented Tan. In alignment with its strategic goals, the Ferretti Group recently announced a new operating structure where several key executives will take on new roles and responsibilities. Consistent with the Group’s strategy to strengthen the international presence of CRN in the super yacht sector, Lamberto Tacoli will concentrate on leading the CRN organization as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CRN with full responsibility for the management and operations of the CRN business. Mauro Frattesi will continue in his role as Chief Technical Officer for the Group and will also oversee the development and management of the Group in the Asia-Pacific region as President and Chief Executive Officer of Asia-Pacific. Andrea Frabetti will take on a new role leading Advanced Yacht Technology Design, the naval research and design center for the Ferretti Group. In line with efforts to further strengthen the Group’s Brands, James Henderson has been appointed as Chief Marketing Officer and Antonio Campagnuolo has been appointed as Head of Product Management, where he will lead a team of specialists for each brand that are responsible for driving and implementing new product development, configuration and specifications for each model. The Ferretti Group continues to build on its success in the Americas where the Group completed a record year of sales in the American market for the second consecutive year. The successful operating model in North America will be used as a benchmark for the Europe and Asia-Pacific region with centrally localized inventory and a team of local sales specialists for each brand as part of the sales organization. Complementing the existing offices at Ferretti Group America, the Group will also be launching a brand new retail concept showroom in Palm Beach on Worth Avenue this November. The Latin American markets continue to be a strong growth region for the Ferretti Group. The Group is focused on expanding the distribution infrastructure and developing new clients in key Latin America markets including Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, Dominican Republic and Colombia while fostering new interest for luxury yachts in Peru, Uruguay, and Argentina. “Our Americas market is coming off the strongest year to date with record sales for both Pershing and Custom Line and an unprecedented order book schedule for the 2012-2013 Nautical Year” stated Ferruccio Rossi, Ferretti Group CEO. “The Group has significantly reinforced the strategic importance of its Americas organization and will continue to strengthen its presence in the west and east coast of North America along with growing its dealer presence in Latin America”, added Rossi. Over the last 18 months the Ferretti Group has invested a significant amount of resources into the re-launch of Bertram Yacht, the iconic sport fishing brand. This has comprised of relocating the Bertram manufacturing operations to a new state of the art production facility in Merritt Island, Florida and strengthening the Bertram management team with key hires of top industry talent in product development, engineering, manufacturing, sales and operations. The Ferretti Group will continue to implement its strategy for Allied Marine, which will concentrate exclusively on brokerage of pre-owned yachts and charter operations and is currently exploring the opportunity to expand the brokerage and charter arm into Europe and the Asia Pacific region. The Ferretti Group has made a significant commitment to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show with one of the largest in-water displays, showcasing an impressive line-up of 17 models, five of which are exclusive debuts for the Americas. The highly anticipated Pershing 108, Pershing 74, Riva 75 Venere Super, Riva 63 Virtus, and Riva Iseo, will be located on the Ferretti Group new yacht display on Dock E-500 at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center from October 25th through October 29th , 2012.