Japanese carmaker Lexus has established itself over the years as the maker of some fine luxury vehicles. Spawn from Toyota in 1989, the brand is now one of the pillars of its segment in several of the world's largest markets. But Lexus is not making only luxury SUVs, but yachts too. And a new one was just announced.
Lexus entered this market in 2017, when it showed to the world something called the Sport Yacht concept. It was presented as a project that allowed the company to "explore how Lexus design language could be applied to a maritime lifestyle," and it proved successful enough to spawn something that may be considered a sort of production version.
Called LY 650 (or the Lexus Luxury Yacht), the boat was introduced in 2019 as a 65-foot (20 meters) contraption made together with Italian yacht design studio Nuvolari Lenard and American builder Marquis Yachts. It came with a composite hull and it was powered by twin Volvo Penta IPS engines. The ship can sleep a total of six people in three staterooms.
We have absolutely no official numbers from Lexus telling us how many LY 650s have been sold since the introduction, but there must have been enough of them for the carmaker to release a continuation of sorts: enter the LY 680.
An evolution of the existing platform, the new boat comes with a few improvements over the existing design, all meant to enhance the comfort of the passengers and increase the number of activities they can perform while at sea.
On a technical level the new yacht remains pretty much the same as the one it is based on. It still plays in the 65-foot segment, and it is powered by the same Volvo powerplants. There are three bedrooms on board, with a total of six beds, but the yacht can accommodate a total of 15 people at any given time.
What changed compared to the LY 650 is the inclusion of a flybridge that is now 55 inches (1,400 mm) longer than before. That's enough extra room for Lexus to include in the build a lounge sofa and a barbecue grill.
Separately, the swimming platform has been extended as well, growing by almost 28 inches (700 mm) to allow a larger range of activities at sea.
The new yacht is being put together by Lexus and Asia-based specialist Horizon Group. It is already available for order through Toyota Marine to customers in Japan for prices that have of course not been disclosed.
Until we can actually see this thing out at sea, Lexus will present a scale model of the LY 680 at the Japan International Boat Show 2024, which takes place until the end of the week in Yokohama.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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