Boat International released its annual ranking of the world’s top producers of yachts on 13th December. Despite some initial wobbles in 2020 when Covid-19 first struck, the superyacht industry has largely shrugged off the pandemic to record a third year of consistent order book growth. The 2022 Global Order Book records 1,024 projects in build or on order, a rise of 24.7 percent on last year’s 821.
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The Italian yacht-manufacturing company, Azimut|Benetti ranked first accounting for 12.5 percent of the total number of projects. With a number of 128 projects totalling 4,061 metres in length, Azimut|Benetti Group leads the field for the 22nd year in the Global Order Book.
This confirms the highlights presented by the Group, which reports an order book currently totalling 1.5 billion euros (USD 1.6 billion), and the value of production for the current season forecasts to exceed one billion euros (USD 1.1 billion) – a 20 percent rise on the previous year (2020/2021).
The APAC region has leapt forward, rising to 15 percent 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. Oasis 40M has been Benetti Asia’s bestselling yacht in the last two years and 6 Oasis 40M were sold to the APAC region out of the 15 Oasis units sold globally. The 6th yacht is due to be delivered to Singapore by the end of 2023.
“Our Group owes its long-standing leadership to the ability to build highly innovative yachts that are greatly appreciated by the market and cover the typically Italian size range of up to 50 metres. But this important segment is also joined by numerous larger steel and aluminium superyacht projects, traditionally the preserve of northern European shipyards. We are the leading player today, and have been for over 20 years, because we are the only Group in the world to cover both these size ranges with models of undisputed success, a client-centric approach and high build quality,” said Azimut|Benetti Vice President Giovanna Vitelli.
In terms of strategy, the Group has been focusing on diversified models, innovative design, and cutting-edge solutions to reduce consumption and emissions. In the last 15 years, in particular, the Group has focused on issues around protecting the sea, working profitably to find solutions that reduce environmental impact in both the short and long term.
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“For us, efficiency and reducing fuel consumption are not just slogans for the future, but milestones we are achieving in the present, by investing in research and infrastructure to reduce the consumption of our yachts by 30% and significantly cut emissions. This is a tangible result achieved through the extensive use of carbon fibre – a material with production processes that we have internalised for use in yacht building – and investing in the optimisation of hulls and propulsion systems,” added Vitelli.
To back this up, the Group has confirmed a three-year R&D investment plan worth 100 million euros (USD 112.5 millions) .