on 11 Jan 2021
Simpson Marine, Asia dealer for Sanlorenzo, releases impressive sales figures for 2020
The Sanlorenzo SX112
Hong Kong-based Simpson Marine, one of Asia’s premiere yacht dealership and charter companies, reported that 2020 total sales were over US$200 million, with 112 new and second-hand yachts being sold in a year marked by economic turbulence brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sales of Sanlorenzo yachts were particularly buoyant in 2020, with Simpson signing deals on 17 yachts over 24 metres in 2020, including for the sale of a new Sanlorenzo 500Exp just before the end of the year. There are 12 Sanlorenzo yachts due for delivery in 2021. Simpson Marine, which took over the Asia dealership for Sanlorenzo in 2015, reported that the Asian market accounted for 23.5% of Sanlorenzo’s total global sales in 2020.
In its latest financial statement issued last November, Sanlorenzo reported that in the first nine months of 2020, sales to the Asia-Pacific region across all its divisions constituted 18.6% of global sales, already rising 22.3% from the same period in 2019.
Yacht owners in Hong Kong have turned to their boats for fun and isolation amid the effort to social distance, resulting in a number of dealers in Hong Kong reporting healthy sales in 2020.
Simpson Marine reported that an “impressive number of first-time boat owners” have joined the Hong Kong yachting fraternity. In interview with Asia-Pacific Boating last summer, Mike Simpson reflected on the boom in sales amid Covid-19 lockdowns, saying that Hong Kong owners were increasingly spending the night on their yachts and making fuller use of their yachts, as well as buying more of them.
Simpson Marine’s yacht charter activities in 2020 included 600 charter days booked in Hong Kong, compared to over 1000 charter days sold throughout Asia
The lack of air travel options has also meant that yacht owners and those able to afford yachts have increasingly looked to Hong Kong’s own cruising waters for places to enjoy time away. Simpson Marine’s yacht charter activities in 2020 included 600 charter days booked in Hong Kong, compared to over 1000 charter days sold throughout Asia.
The company, which has the dealership for Sanlorenzo, Beneteau, Lagoon, Fairline and Aquila, has offices in 11 locations around Asia besides its Hong Kong headquarters. Simpson Marine said that growth last year in the Hong Kong market, already the most important in Asia, had compensated for losses around Southeast Asian countries, which have been more affected by Covid-19-related travel restrictions.
The company reported significant sales in both Beneteau and Lagoon brands, with several new models in the Beneteau Outboard power ranges due to arrive in Hong Kong in 2021. Simpson Marine also launched a sailing school in Thailand, with eight boats from the Beneteau First line of sailing yachts. The company reported sales of Lagoon branded catamarans into Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore, with the new Lagoon SIXTY 7 power catamaran due to arrive in Hong Kong in Spring 2021.
Simpson Marine is also introducing a number of new yacht models to the Asia market. Fairline Yachts will see two new models arrive to Hong Kong in 2021 – the Squadron 53 and the Squadron 68. Bluegame, a brand produced by Sanlorenzo Group, attracted interest in Asia with the arrival of the BGX70 into Hong Kong, with the first BG62 due to arrive in Hong Kong in March 2021.