Earlier this week, Car&Driver reported that premium German car maker Mercedes could soon discontinue the SLS AMG! It is being said that void left in the car maker’s portfolio by the discontinuation of the SLS AMG woudl be filled by a smaller model that will be sold with a different name and could be launched in 2015.
The Mercedes SLS AMG, which has been seen rubbing shoulders with Gallardos and R8s of this world, was first launched way back in 2009 and replaced the legendary Mercedes-Mclaren SLR. Later in its life, the SLS got many new variants such as the GT, Roadster, Black series and an E-CELL electric model.
However, there are good chances that the car maker felt that a smaller car, which would be almost as potent but cheaper to produce, would take the price bang on the Porsche 911 territory and yet, offer performance close to that of the SLS AMG. We have already seen several spy shots of the upcoming Mercedes performance car and while various reports have bestowed it with names such as the “baby SLS’ and “SLC”, Mercedes has codenamed the car as C190.
The C190 won’t get the SLS AMG’s big displacement 6.3 litre V8 engine. Instead, it is expected that the car would get a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 motor that would be mated to a 7 Speed DCT gearbox and will be good for appox 550PS.
While the future Mercedes supercar could offer tough competition to the 911, R8 and the likes, it is sad to know that akin to the SLR, the SLS nameplate would be dropped out of the car maker’s portfolio.
Source: Blog.caranddriver.com