Lexus Announces Production of Premium Yacht
Lexus has announced it plans to produce a premium yacht for sale worldwide, building on the success of the Lexus Sport Yacht concept.
Image Supplied by Lexus South Africa
The production commitment was made by Toyota Motor Corporation Executive Vice President Shigeki Tomoyama while accepting a special award for the concept from Japan's Boat of the Year committee.
Tomoyama, whose responsibilities include Toyota Marine, said sales would start in the second half of next year, citing the 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 said.
While the concept was 12.8 metres long, the production version is planned as a larger 19 metres sport fly-bridge cruiser, with luxury state rooms below deck and entertaining space for up to 15 guests.
Connected services using the company's new mobility services platform will provide security, smartphone integration, remote diagnostics and maintenance and other services. Specifications, pricing and other details will be announced later. The Lexus Sport Yacht concept, unveiled in January 2017, 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 renowned boat manufacturers Marquis-Larson. The new boat builds on that partnership.
The hull, inner structure and superstructure of the Lexus Sport Yacht concept were made of hand-laid carbon-fibre fabric, vacuum-infused with two-part polyurethane resin.
The bespoke open sport cruiser was powered by two marine versions of the Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.0-litre performance V8 engine as used in the high-performance Lexus RC F coupe, GS F sedan and LC 500 grand tourer.
The Japan International Boat Show is the largest exposition of the Japanese marine industry. The Boat of the Year Awards are selected by a committee of 30 Japanese marine journalists.
Toyota Marine, founded in 1990, is one of the largest makers of premium yachts in Japan. Its Ponam line-up includes fibreglass sport-fishing boats from 7.9 metres to 9,1 metres long and luxury cabin-cruisers in 9,4 metres and 10,6 metres lengths. They feature fully-welded aluminium alloy hulls, each powered by marine versions of the turbo diesel engine of the Lexus GX 300d (3.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder) or LX 450d (twin-turbo diesel 4.5-litre V8) luxury utility vehicles.
