Mercedes consider launch of small roadster

[Alx]

Mercedes might launch a small roadster in 2011. The new toy would compete with the Mazda MX5 and potentially also the BMW Z2 and Lancia Fulvia. It is not the first time that such a project has been mentioned, but the technical choices made for the next A-Class are more favorable to a convertible body than in the past.
Indeed, the future small Mercedes will share components with the new C-Class: rear wheel drive and front engines. The next A-Class will also lose the patented “Sandwich“ floor. Apart from its high production cost, this particular floor does not allow Mercedes to extend the range as easily as BMW is able to with the 1-Series. Today a small roadster would require a specific platform, making it hard to break-even with a low production figure.
Mercedes revealed a concept car called SLA at the 2000 Detroit Motor Show. 148“ long, it took inspiration from the SLR roadster but with an astonishing bonnet and surprising front lights. The rear-end was more conventional with a luggage carrier. Inside the layout was minimalistic: a wheel, a gearstick and a few buttons. The SLA had a 1.9 litre engine with an modest output of 123 bhp.
Source: Autozeitung

 

[Monster]

MB tried the small roadster segment with the Smart roadster and failed badly, maybe this time with the three pointed star, people will take it more seriousely.

 

[Centurion]

MB tried the small roadster segment with the Smart roadster and failed badly, maybe this time with the three pointed star, people will take it more seriousely.

The Smart Roadster was basically an overpriced toy which should have been sold at Toy'R'us.

 

[Tarek]

^lol,well i can't imagine somehting smaller than the SLK coz it's already small enough!

 

[Alx]

Interior looks pretty classy... other than that, simply not so hot.

 

[cawimmer430]

The Smart Roadster was basically an overpriced toy which should have been sold at Toy'R'us.

 

[bmer]

Interior looks pretty classy... other than that, simply not so hot.

Those pictures are of the Vision SLA Concept presented in 2000 Detroit Motor Show so the small roaster, if makes it to production, should look very different.

 

[Gullwing]

This is the one car I would love to design, I already have most of it figured out.
Simple basic roadster, Slightly smaller then the SLK, soft top, not too many options. A basic drivers car.

 

[SDNR]

^lol,well i can't imagine somehting smaller than the SLK coz it's already small enough!

I agree, it seems almost pointless to me.

 

[Merc1]

Simple basic roadster, Slightly smaller then the SLK, soft top, not too many options. A basic drivers car.

That is exactly what it would have to be, not a mere minature SLK/SL, but a serious and pure sports car with a manual and like you say a cloth top. I don't see this one getting off the ground though, unless the SLK is taken upmarket just a bit. This roadster if done right would be better off as a Smart in the U.S. not a Mercedes.

I'd like to see another derivative of the S-Class platform, like a giant CLS. I want Mercedes to come up with another unique car, a segment maker like the CLS was and the R-Class was supposed to be.

M

 

[Merc1]

Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family




The success of premium-priced small cars and the Smart car has prompted Mercedes-Benz to consider introducing the next generation of A- and B-class models in North America.

The small-car duo gets a redesign for the 2012 model year with a new front-wheel-drive platform and four-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines.

AutoWeek also had learned that Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche is considering a proposal for a two-seat roadster based on the A- and B-class. The compact front-wheel-drive roadster revives the idea behind the striking Vision SLA concept revealed at the Detroit auto show in 2000.

Mercedes-Benz's decision to revisit the SLA comes as Volkswagen plans to reveal a new mid-engine roadster concept at the Detroit auto show in January, and follows news that BMW is pushing ahead with plans for a 1-series-based Z2 roadster positioned below the Z4.

No production plans have been approved for a roadster, and it remains unclear whether the car would be included in the Mercedes-Benz portfolio for North America. But with North American sales dropping 38.2 percent in November from a year earlier, officials feel the time is right for a model along the lines of the SLA to join Mercedes-Benz's growing stable of small cars, slotting beneath the SLK.

"It is part of the regular new-model review at Mercedes-Benz to look at ideas from the past," a senior Mercedes-Benz official told AutoWeek. "When the SLA was originally proposed at the end of the last decade, we didn't have a suitable platform; the sandwich platform is too high and too heavy. This problem will be alleviated with the arrival of the next A-class, whose new platform provides much greater scope in terms of the sort of variants it can support."

A roadster aside, the A- and B-class redesign will add at least two more variants, alongside the replacements for today's hatchback and wagon models. They include a coupe and a sport-utility vehicle, both of which are expected to be included in Mercedes-Benz's U.S. lineup as part of an effort to attract younger customers.

The current Mercedes-Benz A-class competes with the VW Golf in Europe. The redesigned A-class and B-class may join Mercedes-Benz's U.S. lineup.

The B-class uses the same chassis as the A-class but rides on wheelbase that is 0.84-inch longer and has an overall length of 170.8 inches--20 inches shorter than the C-class.

Mercedes-Benz is investing heavily in the new A-class. It is spending 600 million euros, or $762 million at current exchange rates, to revamp the existing production facilities in Rastatt, Germany, and also has announced that it will build a $1 billion production plant in Kecskemét, Hungary. The two plants are expected to produce up to 500,000 cars.


Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family - AutoWeek Magazine


M

 

[fortuner]

Re: Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family

that pic is very very old i remember seeing that picture a very long time back.

 

[Merc1]

Re: Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family

Yep is the SLA concept from 2000. That type of small roadster is providing the inspiration for something similar today.

M

 

[Centurion]

Re: Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family

MB must have heard of BMW's Z2 plans.

 

[M.Toni]

Re: Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family

Yeah saw that SLA and thought it was really cool for that time - if I think a little better it's still cool and wouldn't mind to see a production car based on this except for some frontal facia changes.

 

[klier]

Re: Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family

MB must have heard of BMW's Z2 plans.

Heh

Action, reaction. From both sides.

 

[Tarek]

Re: Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family

^yep,soon they will be mainstream like Toyotas

 

[Gullwing]

Re: Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family

It wouldn't take much to make the SLA a bad ass little roadster.
Tweek the styling a little and keep the car simple and light.

 

[Centurion]

Re: Mercedes considers roadster from new A-class family

They should do it. I've always wondered why nobody have challenged the MX-5. It's time to end its reign.

 

[Wolfgang]

Text: Ben Foulds / Photos: Milos Dvorak



Smart Roadster revealed

Our exclusive images show look of reborn two-seater, plus chunky new off-road model

A Smart revolution is on the way. We can exclusively reveal that a replacement for the Smart Roadster is set to hit showrooms next year, followed closely by a new 4x4.

An Auto Express reader and Smart customer got in touch after a visit to his local dealer, who confided he’d been informed of plans to produce a successor to the roadster during a trip to the Smart factory. Not only that, a factory worker also let slip that a 4x4 competitor to the MINI Countryman is in the pipeline. Our pictures show how the models could look when they reach production.

The Roadster takes inspiration from the ForSpeed concept revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and stays true to the 2003 original with its distinctive low stance, while featuring modern design touches such as sculpted flanks and intricate detailing. The chunkier five-door 4x4 harks back to the ForFour supermini that was axed in 2006. It retains Smart’s trademark two-tone body, highlighting the central safety cell, and will be the firm’s largest model yet.

The 4x4 is likely to be based on Mercedes’ new B-Class platform, but underpinnings for the Roadster have yet to be confirmed. However, the recent tie-up between Smart parent firm Daimler and the Renault-Nissan alliance has already heralded a joint rear-drive platform to be shared between the next ForTwo and Renault Twingo. This could feasibly serve the Roadster, too.

It’s not the first time that the Smart Roadster has been pencilled in for a comeback. Back in 2006, an industry group called Project Kimber planned to sell revised versions of the car using the AC Ace badge. Production was slated for 2007, but the operation was quietly dropped before a prototype had even taken to the road.

New versions of the ForTwo and ForFour are scheduled to land in showrooms in 2014.

For an alternative review of the latest Smart Roadster visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk

Read more: Smart Roadster revealed | News | Auto Express