Beneteau - sales down but 29 new models announced

[Dyflin]

The Bénéteau Group, that doyenne of the yacht manufacturing world, has announced that its 2008/9 sales are down 30-40%, is expecting to contract by 10-15% in the coming months, but is reacting in a typically aggressive fashion by announcing 29 new models (21 renewals - 8 range extensions)for the 2009/10 year.

As a leading sailboat builder, Groupe Bénéteau has announced plans to continue to develop its business on the powerboat market. It is to extend its range to units over 15m (49ft) and is now already one of the leading players in Europe. On both sail and powerboats, the group's brands — Bénéteau, Jeanneau, Lagoon, Monte Carlo, Prestige and CNB — offer 100 models, ranging from 6m-18m (20ft-60ft).

Bénéteau's total estimated group sales for the 2008/09 financial year are expected to total €646m, compared to €1.055bn in 2007/08. The breakdown of sales is likely to be 48 per cent sail, 25 per cent power and 27 per cent homes.

by Sail-World Cruising 11:15 PM Tue 8 Sep 2009 GMT

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[Sybarite]

One should remember that Bénéteau were building boats for 80 years before entering the leisure market. They started in 1884 and marketed their first motor fishing boat in 1912. They have since built over 36000 motor boats.

John