There was an almost inevitable progression to BRABUS‘ journey on the water, and today’s announcement brings it full circle. The Bottrop-based maison – founded in 1977 as a Mercedes tuner and reborn as a global lifestyle brand – has chosen AB Yachts, a Next Yacht Group brand, to build the first yachts ever to carry its name. The debut is already booked: world premiere at the Monaco Yacht Show 2026, from 23 to 26 September, with a second world premiere announced for the 2027 edition of the Monegasque show.
The BRABUS Marine climb
To grasp the scale of the move, one has to look at the path that led here. BRABUS Marine was born in 2018 with Axopar, the Finnish day-boat builder: that collaboration produced the Shadow range, sporty craft between 28 and 50 feet that proved the brand’s DNA could translate to the water without losing its edge. In 2024, at the Monaco Yacht Show, came step two: the partnership with Sunreef Yachts for a line of luxury power catamarans, starting with the Ultima 55.
The agreement with AB Yachts closes the circle – or rather, widens it. For the first time, BRABUS enters the yacht segment proper, and for the first time it does so with an Italian shipyard. This is an addition, not a substitution: Axopar and Sunreef remain in the portfolio, and the new range sits one rung above them, completing a pyramid that now spans sporty day boating, multihulls and the top end of the market.
Why AB Yachts, of all yards
The choice of partner is, on closer inspection, the most coherent part of the whole operation. Since 1992, AB Yachts has built boats that have made speed their identity: hulls drawing on aerospace-derived expertise, waterjet propulsion, top speeds of 60 knots, and a range running from the AB 80 to the AB 130 flagship. Among Italian shipyards, it is arguably the builder whose philosophy sits closest to that of a brand raised on supercars: extreme performance as the starting point, not an optional extra.
“AB Yachts has exactly the kind of energy we’re looking for: the drive to challenge what is possible, to push boundaries and to create something that instantly feels special,” said Constantin Buschmann, CEO and owner of BRABUS, invoking the One-Second-Wow philosophy the brand applies to every product it makes.
Giorgio Mattei, Deputy Chairman of Next Yacht Group, described it as “quite simply, love at first sight”: “From our very first meeting, we recognized in BRABUS the same relentless passion for innovation, performance and bold design that defines AB Yachts. Together, we are creating something truly distinctive: an innovative co-designed product that we believe will leave a lasting mark on the yachting industry.”
What we know – and what is yet to be revealed
The announcement speaks of a “co-designed product”, a formula that leaves the most interesting question open: will the new range be built on an entirely new platform, or on a reworking of existing hulls? The Sunreef precedent would suggest the latter – the Ultima 55 BRABUS is a variation on a model already in the range – but the tone of the announcement, and the fact that two Monaco premieres are already in the diary, point to a project of broader scope.
What is certain is the strategic value for both sides. For BRABUS, entering high-end yachting is the missing piece of a marine universe built methodically, one rung at a time. For AB Yachts and Next Yacht Group, standing alongside one of the most recognisable names in global luxury is a lever of international positioning that no amount of product communication alone could replicate: the BRABUS audience – cross-category, young, accustomed to buying into an imaginary before buying an object – is precisely the one the Tuscan yard would struggle to reach on its own.
See you at Port Hercule, September 2026.
