Star of the Sea
Interview by Claudia Trimde
Ferretti
Shines at
Miami Boat
Show
It’s time to set sail at Miami’s annual International Boat Show. The star of the sea this year is the Ferretti Groupthe world’s leading brand in the design, construction and sale of some of the most luxurious motor yachts. With their unique portfolio of yachts such as Riva, Bertram, CRN, and more, Ferretti Group is one of the most exclusive and prestigious brands worldwide. Le CITY deluxe had the pleasure of speaking to James Henderson, its President for Americas, and discuss the latest boat show trends of the year.
James you presented a new model at the boat show, what was the feedback?
The response has been fantastic. We presented three new boats, the new Ferretti 650, Ferretti 750, including a sneak preview of Ferretti 6. We are known for innovation, so every year we try to bring out new model that is groundbreaking and reflecting the DNA of our brand.
“We’re known for the brand and for innovation of the product”
What was the main focus for the boat show aficionados this year?
What we were trying to do for them in Florida is to maintain the inventory of all the popular models that we carry, very specific to the American market. We have increased our investment in the Americas in the last couple of years, which includes a flagship showroom
in Ft. Lauderdale of 45,000 square feet. We have all of our brands on display in Palm Beach, which we opened at the end of 2012.
Also there is a new store in Miami Beach.
So what we’ve got is a full inventory for the American market and the boat show is a great opportunity for us to showcase that with 25 models on display at a retail value of $130 million. We really try to represent one popular model of each brand. So when people come in, we can show them a big range. This is the chance to display the scale of our infrastructure in the American market, something for everyone. Every boat show we mix in some new models along with the number of our inventory models. Moreover, the American market is an interesting market. It can be quite diverse. A number of our buyers are incredibly successful individuals and some of them are also quite impulsive so they come into boat shows and it’s not uncommon to for them to buy 80 or 90-foot boats in one day.
It’s extraordinary.
Are these returning customers or the new ones?
It’s a bit of a mix actually. In the last couple of years we had a 30% growth in the market so we’ve been very successful, but we also have a retention ratio of an estimated 40% which means that we have an awful lot of repeat clients and also the people who buy the product for the first time and then come
APR-MAY 2014
What are the new boat trends?
The Open boats are the new tendency, in line with that falls Riva. – This extraordinary brand is 172 years old this year and we’ve always been known for open boats at Riva, and if you go back to the icon of the 1960s boating, Riva’s boats were it. Riva has always been synonymous with Miami, synonymous with the French Riviera, with Monaco and
with celebrities and so we also try to develop something along the lines of the open boat concept. The base of the platform that we’re using is Riva 86 Domino, which has been a very successful product for us. We’ve built twenty of them to date and 4 or 5 of them are here in Miami. The boat that we’re working on now is going to be based on that model. It will be incredibly fast with 14 knots and an open hot tub. It is Ferretti patented and has never been done before. For us it really follows the innovation of the brand.