The Ferretti Group named Alberto Galassi as its new chief executive officer.
Galassi, who comes from the aviation industry as president of Piaggio Aero Industries, replaces Ferruccio Rossi, effective immediately.
The change at the top is part of a consolidation/relaunching plan focused on the conception and construction of a new range of products and on the implementation of new business and marketing strategies, the company said in a statement.
The goal is to secure new positions on international markets and confirm the role that the boats built by the group play as ambassadors of “made in Italy” technology and style.
The new endeavor is being made possible by the support of the Chinese automobile and equipment manufacturer Weichai Group, the majority shareholder in the Ferretti Group since 2012.
To spur worldwide growth of the group, Weichai is offering a shareholders’ loan of 30 million euros ($40.8 million) that is immediately available and can be converted to an increase in capital in the future.
“I’d like to thank President Tan Xuguang and the Weichai Group for the trust they have placed in me by appointing me to a position with such great responsibility,” Galassi said in a statement.
“We are confident that our brands and products, in whose development the shareholders have made a major investment, will appeal to the taste and gain the trust of the discriminating boat owners who are already a part of the Ferretti tradition, as well as of new owners who are taking their first steps into the world of boating. It is with great enthusiasm that I am placing my commitment, my experience and my great passion for boating at the disposal of the Ferretti Group, of its boat owners and of its entire work force.”
Galassi, born in Modena, Italy, in 1964, is a lawyer who specializes in international law and is the only Italian director to sit on the board of the Manchester City Football Club, which won the English Premier League this year.
