New Lexus flagship model has 1,000-hp engines, seating for 15

TOKYO — Lexus has a new flagship, with the emphasis on ship.

The premium brand's new model gets 1,000 hp engines, stretches some 68 feet and has a 1,849-gallon fuel tank.

Oh, it also accommodates 15 people and boasts six beds.

Introducing the LY 680, a high-seas pleasure cruiser dripping with opulence and attitude to burnish the country-club credentials of Toyota Motor Corp.'s top-shelf marque.

And yes, LY stands for Luxury Yacht.

Lexus started taking orders in Japan for its latest boat on March 21 at a whopping ¥770 million ($5.1 million), tax included. There are no plans for overseas deliveries anytime soon.

The LY 680 is the second installment in Lexus' ultra-luxury cabin cruiser gambit, growing by 3 feet over the LY 650 model that went on sale in 2018.

At Lexus, floating a boat is more about making waves than sales.

Lexus sold only four LY 650s before ending production. It eyes two a year of the LY 680. On land, Lexus' four-wheeled flagship, the LS sedan, racked U.S. sales of 2,234 vehicles last year.

The idea for a Lexus luxury yacht started percolating in 2017, when then-Chief Branding Officer Tokuo Fukuichi wanted to engender a sense of Lexus envy around Japan's top premium player.

To sharpen the Lexus image as a lifestyle brand and distance it from mass-market Toyota, executives started toying with all manner of eye candy, from yachts to skyjets to sexy coupes.

The LY 680 stays on that tack.

"Lexus aims to be a luxury lifestyle brand, and the flagship Luxury Yacht is the embodiment of the Lexus design philosophy 'Crafted,' " Lexus said in a news release.

"The concept for the Luxury Yacht is 'to feel like a hideout in the middle of the sea, providing a space where discerning customers can feel free and at ease.' "

The sleek copper-toned exterior and posh cabin, replete with wraparound lounge sofas and high-gloss wood paneling, were designed by Lexus with interior help by Italian styling company Nuvolari Lenard. The vessel itself will be built by Taiwanese company Horizon Group.

Powering the craft are a pair of 12.8-liter, inline six-cylinder diesel engines supplied by Volvo.

The base configuration engine generates 800 hp for a combined 1,600 hp between both motors. The upgraded unit delivers quadruple digits at 1,000 hp for a total output of 2,000.

In Japan, the yachts are sold through the watercraft unit Toyota Marine. That business sells a line of yachts to the regular — not super — rich under the Ponam badge. The 31-foot Ponam-31, which can accommodate five people on its flybridge, starts at ¥45.9 million yen ($303,400).

Toyota entered the leisure boat market in 1997 and has sold 1,074 boats since then, some of them in the U.S.