Lexus concept yacht opens door for production version

The unique Lexus (Nagoya, Japan) Sport Yacht concept was recognized with a special award by Japan’s “Boat of the Year” committee at the Japan International Boat Show in Yokohama, Japan March 9. 

The one-of-a-kind Lexus Sport Yacht stunned the automotive and yachting worlds when it was revealed in January 2017 at an exclusive media event in Miami by Toyota Motor Corp. (Aichi Prefecture, Japan) president Akio Toyoda along with Yoshihiro Sawa, president of Lexus International, and Shigeki Tomoyama, Toyota Motor Corp. executive vice president with responsibilities including Toyota Marine.  

The Lexus Sport Yacht concept was conceived by Lexus Design to explore new areas of luxury and active lifestyles. It was engineered by the Toyota Marine Division and a single running proof-of-concept was built in partnership with Marquis-Larson Boat Group of Pulaski (Green Bay, Wisconsin, US). The hull, inner structure and superstructure of the bespoke 42-foot open sport cruiser are made of hand-laid carbon-fiber fabric, vacuum-infused with two-part polyurethane resin. The Lexus Sport Yacht concept is powered by two marinized versions of the Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.0 L performance V8 engines as used in the high-performance Lexus RC F coupe, GS F sedan and LC 500 grand tourer.   

While accepting the award at the Japan International Boat Show, Shigeki Tomoyama  announced plans to produce a future Lexus premium yacht for sale worldwide.   

“Based on our amazing experiences in engineering, building, testing and showing the Lexus Sport Yacht concept last year, we’ve decided to take the next bold step of producing an all-new larger yacht that builds on the advanced nature of the concept while adding more comfort and living space,” Tomoyama says, “We plan to start sales in the US in the latter half of 2019, with sales in Japan following in the spring of 2020.”  

The new yacht builds on the partnership with Marquis-Larson, leveraging their renowned boat manufacturing expertise. Planned as a larger 65-foot sport fly-bridge cruiser, the new yacht will have luxury staterooms below deck and entertaining space for up to 15 guests. Connected services using the company’s new Mobility Services Platform (MSPF) will provide security, smartphone integration, remote diagnostics and maintenance and other services. Specifications, pricing and other details of the 65-foot yacht will be announced at a later date.