Japanese luxury car brand Lexus has floated a new
idea of how it could expand its presence in the prestige segment, with the new
Lexus Sport Yacht concept.
The new 12.7-metre long, 3.8m wide yacht revealed in
Florida by Lexus chief branding officer Akio Toyoda is said to “demonstrate how the luxury automotive brand
could expand into new areas of lifestyle and recreation”.
There’s no Spindle Grille, but there is Lexus power
– the company has fitted two 5.0-litre V8 engines borrowed from the engine
production lines of the RC F, GS F and new LC500 coupe. Each of the engines has
449 Hp of power and the watercraft is said to have a top speed of 43 knots. To
help make parking easier, there’s a bow thruster with joystick control.
There’s a big colour touchscreen panel at the helm,
with different information screens for navigation, surface radar, underwater
sonar and digital charts. That screen also controls lighting and entertainment
systems onboard, and the sound system is a Mark Levinson unit with built-in 4G
WiFi.
There’s seating for up to eight people and even air
conditioning, a fridge, stove and shower. And unlike other similar yachts, the
Lexus one uses carbon-fibre reinforced plastic in its construction, which is
the same stuff used in the Lexus LFA supercar. The brand claims it helps save
up to 1000 kilograms compared to a similar sized premium yacht made of
fibreglass.
Toyota Marine will soon introduce Ponam premium
yachts to its portfolio in Japan, so it makes sense that this is a concept for
both arms of the Japanese company. But the company has made it clear that this
bespoke creation is a “one-off project with no plan for production”.
