Brabus enters big yachting with AB, first hull debuts at Monaco

What has actually been signed

The release went out from Bottrop and Viareggio on 7 July. Brabus, the German firm known for high-performance Mercedes conversions, and AB Yachts, a brand of Next Yacht Group, call it a strategic partnership to create the world's first Brabus yachts. The debut hull premieres at the Monaco Yacht Show from 23 to 26 September 2026, with a further world premiere already planned for the 2027 edition of the same show.

Beyond those dates the announcement says nothing at all. No length, no speed, no propulsion system, no price and no delivery date, and the trade coverage adds none of it. Two premieres booked at the same show two years running is the only evidence that this is a range with a plan behind it and not a single badged hull.

The platform the badge is landing on

AB Yachts publishes six models, from the AB 80 to the AB 130. Every one has a composite hull and superstructure, runs three MAN V12s driving two steerable MJP waterjets with a central MJP booster, and is classed by RINA. The AB 80 is 25.40 m and quotes 54 knots flat out, a 45-knot cruise and 400 nautical miles at that cruise.

The AB 130 is the biggest at 39.65 m and 145 tonnes, taking 12 guests in five cabins and five crew, and it does 41 knots. Draught across the whole range sits between 1.30 m and 1.35 m. SuperYacht Times describes the brand as reaching up to 60 knots. AB's own model pages top out at the AB 80's 54.

Who AB Yachts is, and who owns it

AB Yachts was founded in 1992. It is now part of Next Yacht Group, formed in 2021 out of the acquisition of the historic FIPA yard and also the owner of Maiora. The group reports EUR 100m of production value in 2025 and an order portfolio of the same size, across 67,000 square metres of yard at Massa and Viareggio, with more than 380 yachts delivered.

Next Yacht Group sits inside a wider investment vehicle, GB Invest Holding AG. One detail does not line up. The group describes AB Yachts as spanning 80 to 170 feet, while the published range stops at the AB 130 at 130 feet. Something larger is implied by the group's own copy, and a Monaco premiere is where it would surface.

Brabus Marine already has a ladder

This is not the badge's first time afloat. Brabus Marine builds the Shadow range with the Finnish yard Axopar, running from the 37-foot Shadow 900 up to a 45-foot Shadow 1500 with three supercharged Mercury Racing V8s, 1,500 hp, a 40-knot cruise and a quoted 62 knots. Since 2024 it has also worked with Sunreef on the Brabus Ultima 55, a 17 m foiling catamaran on twin 725 hp.

Brabus was founded in 1977 and publishes no price for any of it. The point is the size step. Everything the badge has carried on the water so far is a day boat or a catamaran under 20 metres. AB's largest hull is nearly 40 m, which means a different buyer, a different survey regime and a permanent crew.

What a badge is worth on the water

The nearest real precedent is the Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63, built by The Italian Sea Group from 2020 in a limited edition of 63 hulls. She is 20 m on twin MAN V12-2000 units, and the copy on the builder's own page promises 63 knots while the specification table below it says 60. The same page calls the construction carbon fibre and then lists the hull as GRP vacuum technology.

The commercial question for an owner is residual value. A recognisable name narrows the future buyer pool to people who want that name, which supports a price or thins the market depending on how the range lands. This deal is at least written as a co-design, and AB's engineering is already the product and not the backdrop. Monaco in September is where the first evidence arrives.