On the eve of the 44th Cannes Yachting Festival opening, Groupe Beneteau renew its appointment with the ON THE HORIZON event to share a dedicated gathering moment with its international community.
Following the previous year success, on September 5, 2022, Groupe Beneteau hosted more than 200 selected guests on an exclusive location on the Croisette in Cannes, announcing the corporate vision, the new ambitions and projects and the latest product innovations.
Opening the event, Gianguido Girotti, Groupe Beneteau Boat Division CEO, explains that:
“We take our inspiration from our customers’ dreams and we want to enable unique and fulfilling boating memories for each of our customers, all over the world. We have condensed this vision and this ambition into a claim for Groupe Beneteau: BRINGING DREAMS TO WATER.”
Revealing the new claim, Groupe Beneteau confirms its commitment as boat builder and unveils its plans and projects to achieve this mission as a group and with each of its brands.
Branding and Design Excellence
This is a strong commitment for Groupe Beneteau aiming to have all brands developing their branding shifting from a volume driven to a value driven strategy.
As a multi-specialist group that serves customers with power and sailing units, from 5.5m up to 24m, Groupe Beneteau affirms his portfolio on the four strategic segments: dayboating, real estate on the water, monohull and multihull. Each of them has a specific objective, which is part of the strategic plan that involves aligning the branding exercise, the international industrial footprint and the development of each model.
On the Groupe Beneteau powerboat offer, Erik Stromberg, Vice-President of Power & Motor Yacht Development, states:
“We have launched 15 new models in the dayboating segment across four brands.”
He continues the presentation focusing on the new JEANNEAU Cap Camarat 10.5 CC and the extension of the Merry Fisher range with the JEANNEAU Merry Fisher 1295 and the much-awaited model, the JEANNEAU DB/43:
“It represents a bold launch, not only of a luxury dayboat, but a brand-new range and a clear departure into a new market segment.”
“The presentation continues with the two launches from the American brands: the FOUR WINNS TH36 and the WELLCRAFT 355.
Focusing on the Real Estate on the Water segment, Erik Stromberg highlights that:
“Nothing embodies real estate like a multihull and PRESTIGE has decided to blaze a path into the world of catamarans. It is a natural step for a brand that has been focused on providing the best on board experience. From the luxury of space to the enhanced stability, the M48 perfectly completes the PRESTIGE product offering. A true motor yacht, on a multihull platform.”
PRESTIGE was not content to work on multihulls; the crossover market has been a very successful one for the brand with the launch of the X70. To complement this award-wining model, the brand launches the new X60.
Then, Damien Jacob, Vice-President of Sailboat Development, continues presenting the new EXCESS 14, which aims to offer the excitement of sailing a monohull onboard a multihull, and the LAGOON 51 bringing more sustainable materials onboard such as natural fibers in the composite.
“The multihull segment is very dynamic, and the recent worldwide crisis pushed even more people in that direction. Multihulls embodies the aspiration of many sailors for more freedom on the water. LAGOON and EXCESS aim to answer to the various uses of the multihull sailors. The two brands offer a specific boating experience, explains Damien Jacob.”
On the monohull, Groupe Beneteau is able to enlarge its offer presenting the new Jeanneau Yachts 55 and the BENETEAU Oceanis Yacht 60:
“Through the years, we have consolidated and fine-tuned their offers. With a wide range of product ranging from pure racer to pure cruiser, BENETEAU and JEANNEAU are now the world market leaders. This position has given us the opportunity to venture into new trends.”
Moreover, during the press conference, he reminds that the iconic First is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, with the launch of the new BENETEAU First 44, a perfect balance between performance and comfort.
More sustainable boating practices
When it comes to sustainable boating, Groupe Beneteau addresses this key challenge looking at the product development on one hand and the manufacturing processes on the other. Revealing the different approaches Gianguido Girotti, Boat Division CEO, explains:
“On the product development side, we are currently focused on reducing the environmental impact in two key areas: composite materials and propulsion systems.”
Focusing on composite materials, Groupe Beneteau sets up a special project team for the first hull of BENETEAU First 44, collaborating with the French resin manufacturer ARKEMA, to build a prototype with 100% recyclable resin. This expertise in composite materials will be used also to build two prototypes of a Mini 6.5 racing sailboat using these same materials for The Arch project.
These versions of the BENETEAU First 44 and the Arch Mini 6.5 will be presented to the public during the winter boat shows.
Beside composite materials, the other game-changer in product development is the transition towards reduced emission or emission-free propulsion systems, and Groupe Beneteau has identified excellent partners to do it:
- Vision Marine Technologies on the dayboating segment ;
- Torqeedo for the Real Estate on the Water, monohull and multihull sailing segments
- Volvo Penta with a hybrid engine project
Gianguido Girotti, Boat Division CEO, continues focusing on the manufacturing operations and processes:
“We decided to change the way we produce our small composite parts and we introduced a new bio-sourced resin and natural fiber to replace the classic one. We also decided to look at the energy consumption at our plants. We have decided to collaborate with a local actor called Vendée Energie to install 4 hectares of photovoltaic shadehouse over all the parking lots at our production sites.”
He concludes stating:
“At Groupe Beneteau, we also keep in mind that being sustainable is focus on making boating accessible. Our boats and yachts are the result of top-class industrial processes and we care about our customers as well as we care also about our earth, ocean and sustainable boating will be more and more our key focus.”
Digitalization shift
The third area of work to achieve the goal of BRINGING DREAMS TO WATER is the digitalisation shift:
“At Groupe Beneteau we strongly believe that digitalisation will help us build a special and unique bond between our boats, our clients, our dealers and our brands, states Clement Douet, Vice-President for Digital Business.”
Last year Groupe Beneteau presented SEANAPPS. Today, 2,000 boats are equipped and sailing around the world, and by September 2023, every single boat leaving the plants worldwide will be also equipped with the app. Moreover, it will be available also to every existing boat maintained in the Group’s dealers’ network.
Groupe Beneteau digitalisation process will continue enhancing the ability to deliver faster and more precisely new services as mention Clément Douet:
“At Groupe Beneteau, digitalisation in not just a department to look good and speak to the new generation. Digitalisation transpires to every single entity to align on one goal: offer a unique 360° online & offline experience to every single one of our customers.”
Bruno Thivoyon, Groupe Beneteau CEO, concludes the press conference coming back on the key messages and on the ambitious and rational product roadmap. He underlines how the new models will embed technological and sustainable innovations turning even more the House of Brands into a value driven one. Moreover, he focuses on Groupe Beneteau’s start up and international mindset as an essential aspect for the upcoming projects.
