Brabus is finally getting its feet wet, literally. For nearly five decades, the Bottrop tuning house has built its reputation on turning Mercedes-Benzes into something more unhinged, all wide arches, forged wheels and carbon fiber. It has dabbled in boats before too, but only in the shallow end. The Shadow range with Axopar and the catamarans built alongside Sunreef were solid efforts, sure, but they were day boats and cruisers, nothing that would make a superyacht owner look twice.
That changes now. Brabus has announced a partnership with AB Yachts, the Italian builder under the Next Yacht Group umbrella, to create what the two companies are calling the world’s first Brabus yacht. And this time there is no pretending it is just a fancy paint job on someone else’s hull. AB Yachts builds proper superyachts, from the 80 footer right up to the 130, using waterjet propulsion and aerospace derived construction that lets these boats hit speeds most “regular” yachts can only dream of. Pairing that with Brabus’s love of drama and excess, which we know from its roadgoing creations, feels like the natural order of things.
The first result of this collaboration is set to debut at the Monaco Yacht Show in September 2026, with another premiere already teased for 2027. That suggests this is not a one off vanity project but the start of an actual product line, which is a far bigger commitment than slapping a badge on a hull and calling it a day. Details on size and specification are still under wraps, so treat any guesses, including this one, as speculation. But given AB Yacht’s flagship sits at 39 metres, expect Brabus’s first attempt to be somewhere in that neighbourhood, wrapped in the brand’s signature black paintwork, quilted leather and carbon trim.
What is clear is the ambition. Brabus has spent years building a reputation on land and, more recently, on smaller water. This is its first real shot at the superyacht set, a world where millions is simply the entry fee, and understatement is not really on the menu. Whether the finished boat lives up to the “1-Second-Wow” tagline remains to be seen, but our guess is that it’ll land somewhere close.
