On Eve of Paris Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz Provides Further Details on Yacht Design

September 25, 2012, 12:27 pm

By JERRY GARRETT

PARIS - In a sour European automotive market, Mercedes-Benz is diversifying into other forms of mobility. On the eve of the international motor show here, where the German automaker is scheduled to introduce several new automobiles, it shared further details on the designs for a new yacht.

The plans for the luxury yacht, a “seagoing Granturismo,” as the company calls it, were detailed on Tuesday at the start of the annual Monaco yacht show, five days after sketches of the design were released. The sleek vessel, at 14 meters, or roughly 46 feet, is being jointly developed by Mercedes-Benz Style and Silver Arrows Marine.

“Giving shape to a boat was an exciting challenge for automotive designe rs like us,” Gorden Wagener, head of design for Mercedes-Benz Cars, said in remarks at a design presentation on Tuesday in the principality. “Our task was to explore how to apply the Mercedes-Benz design language to the particular proportions and specific requirements of a boat. We wanted to create something special and what we have come up with is indeed unique.” Few technical details, however, were released.

The craft, called the Silver Arrow of the Seas, is being built by Silver Arrows Marine, a boat-building company registered in Britain, which plans to christen the boat early next year. It should be on sale, at a price yet to be announced, soon after.

Mercedes, whose parent, Daimler, lowered its profit target for the brand for the third quarter, said its interest in boat building was appropriate for at least a couple of reasons. One, it represents the “next stage of Daimler's vision of all-encompassing mobility” solutions; earlier, the company anno unced its participation in the construction of the new Eurocopter EC145 flying machine. Two, it offered a reminder that 125 years earlier, Gottlieb Daimler built the first motorized boat and cruised with it on the River Neckar in Germany.

Indeed, there are undertones of Daimler's inclusive transportation ambitions in the brand's three-pointed-star badge, which represent craft for land, sea and air.