Is There Another SL Facelift Coming?

[Merc1]

The current SL hasn't been a sales flop by any measure, or a flop in other way. I'd bet that the R230 has outsold the R129 and done so in fewer years. No one considers the current SL a sales flop.

M

 

[Pagani]

I agree, calling the R230 a sales flop, after seven years in production, is plain irresponsible. Do you have sales figures that support this? Show me any, ANY, product that has an upward sales curve into its seventh year on sale.

That said, the SL can no longer have a 10-year life span. 2010 should have seen the next iteration already. When you have California, a FERRARI no less, with awesome performance and equal bells and whistles, Mercedes has to have a sharp knife in its drawers. Something that was engineered in the late nineties and debuted in 2001 should not have been burdened with the taslk of competing today.

 

[bmer]

It most certainly isn't a sales flop. I personally don't like the facelifted SL because the edgy design updates intended to make it blend in more with the rest of the MB lineup don't really work well with the otherwise round design of the SL. It's a shame really as the pre-facelift SL used to be my favorite Mercedes.

 

[Sovereign]

I think that the statement about SL's flop status in terms of sales is for the facelifted model and not on the R230 model in general. It surely was a success before the facelift.

 

[Jabba]

SL car licences (words correct?) in Germany since 2005, that means 2006/07 1 FL, 2008 2FL

2005: 2517 (total Mercs: 343895)
2006: 2338 (342768)
2007: 2102 (327742)
2008: 3003 (327965) 2. FL!
2009: 1452 (282527)

You can see a sales increase when the 2. FL appears 2008... and 2009, well, a bad year for big cars. We still have lots of problems, so in fact i´m surprised, that they managed to sell nearly 1500 SL (starting at the minimun of 80.000 Euro!)
Consider that there is the SLK and the CLK, way cheaper than the SL.

(I have the very original R230 from 2003 and i like this version the most, so no sympathy for the actual one, just facts )

I´ll guess 2010 will be a bad year for the SL sales because of the new E-Cabriolet is coming up and that looks hot! There will be many people waiting for his car (only my thoughts)...

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Mercedes needs to present a new SL asap , the current model was only made worse with the facelift...

Really? I think it looks great!

The old one was elegant, but in some ways dull.

 

[Merc1]

The car is old folks and there is lot of new competition, not sure what all the confusion and speculation is about. Clearly the car wasn't a flop before or after any of the facelifts. A 100K 2-seater that has been on the road since 2002 is going to be one of the cars that takes a huge dive when things get tough. Its as simple as that. Flop it is not.


M

 

[bum-man]

I still think they should have kept the peanut shaped lights just made them edgier and less rounded a la the SLR. At least keep to the original design direction. It just doesn't seem right when German makes completely change the sheet metal design of a car midway through its life cycle. That's something Toyota or Honda do.

 

[coolraoul]

I don't think the FL had anything to do with the sales decrease of the SL. It's just becoming older with a fresher competition. Where the Fl failed, it is in the inside where the car, while very nice, cannot hide completely its age.

Economy crisis, fresher competition = sales decrease.

I prefer the FL version, the face of the car was a bit weak with the peanut lights and the smallish grille. And too close to the CLK.

 

[HighestOfHigh]

I prefer the FL version, the face of the car was a bit weak with the peanut lights and the smallish grille. And too close to the CLK.

Exactly! It was really time for those lights to go. And the interior is truly it's weakest point. Falls more in line with the previous generations then the current W221 and W212.

 

[Sovereign]

The facelift SL definitely needs AMG bumpers and package to look good. The standard front bumper is not a match for the face of the car. However this is not a new thing for Mercedes to ruin a good design with ugly bumpers. Remember W140 when it first came out, had a ugly front bumper that was fixed with the facelifty and the car was transformed with it.

 

[tennmb]

The facelift SL is a flop. You don't skip a model year because sales are great. Granted the economy has a huge impact, but SL sales had tanked big time before the economy bubble burst. Hello, they skipped an entire model year, and changed NOTHING.

The FL was a headlight and interior away from success. There are parts of the face lift I love. Power domes on the hood. The wider grill.
But the lights are the eyes of a car. You don't see any cross eyed super models.