MILAN (Reuters) -Most of the luxury yachts made by Italy’s Azimut Benetti will not be directly affected by U.S. import tariffs, its chairwoman and owner said on Monday, adding that the broader impact of trade tensions could, however, become problematic.
Giovanna Vitelli told the Financial Times “Business of Luxury” forum in Barcelona that most large yachts bought by Americans fly a foreign flag and are therefore not registered as imports and not subject to tariffs.
The United States has imposed a 25% tariff on imports of steel, aluminium and cars, as well as a baseline 10% tariff on almost all countries, including Italy.
It has lined up additional “reciprocal” tariffs – potentially adding up to a combined 20% in the EU’s case if negotiations during a 90-day pause should fail.
“For the very large (yacht) segment, let’s say above 24 metres (yards), which represents two thirds of our turnover… U.S. customers already never choose the American flag,” Vitelli said.
For smaller vessels, Vitelli said she believed customers would be willing to pay more to obtain a premium brand, while she ruled out shifting production to the United States to avoid tariffs, as the U.S. is “not a high-end manufacturing market”.
Vitelli added that the group has not so far suffered from a drop in consumer confidence linked to the tariffs.
Azimut Benetti reported revenue of 1.3 billion euros ($1.47 billion) in its financial year to end-August 2024, after enjoying a post-pandemic boom.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought a 33% stake in the family-owned company in 2023.
Vitelli said being a family business makes it easier to take quick decisions and the group currently has no plans to go public.
“I’ve been offered a huge amount of money to sell in past years, hopefully I won’t regret not doing so,” she said.
“I’ll wait to see what my children want to do … going public could be a way to develop the company further and ensure continuity if they are not interested (in taking the reins),” she added.
($1 = 0.8871 euros)
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin, editing by Gavin Jones and Kirsten Donovan)
