He told media in Italy on announcing the move that his plan for Natuzzi would be to focus on rationalising production costs and boosting sales in key markets.

"We'll focus on increasing our sales volumes in crucial markets like Brazil, Russia and the US, where our commercial presence isn't strong enough at present," Mr Uva said. "We face increasing competition from low-cost producers and unfavorable exchange rates. We will do it by investing in new production techniques (and our ability) to boost efficiency and cut costs."

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