Next Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Will Be an AMG-Developed 2+2, Report Suggests

Once an icon of style and luxury, the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class has rather lost its way over the last decade. With the S-Class cabriolet covering the more luxurious end of Mercedes’s high-end drop-top portfolio and the new AMG GT Roadster handling the sporty side, the aging SL finds itself the awkward third wheel at a rather exclusive get-together. Worse yet, the SL-Class is one of the oldest models left in the Mercedes lineup, dating back to 2012. So for the forthcoming next-generation SL-Class, Mercedes-Benz is trying to help the roadster nestle better into that niche by giving it a little more room…and a little more zoom.

During an interview at the New York Auto Show this week, AMG bossman Tobias Moers told Autocar that a 2+2 layout “would make sense” for the next Mercedes-Benz SL, as it would give the car more room. It would also better allow the car to butt heads with its arch-rival, the Porsche 911, which offers a pair of rear seats best suited for cats. 

Also helping the new SL-Class keep up with the Porsches: AMG is reportedly spearheading the development of the new convertible. “It is being kept secret at the moment, but AMG is heading the engineering of the new SL,” a Mercedes-Benz insider reportedly told Autocar. “It’s going to be a vastly different proposition to today’s model.”

According to the British car mag’s sources, the new SL-Class will be the first Benz to use a new modular platform designed for sports cars, which will also go on to be used for the SLK SLC replacement. Power will come from a variety of engines, ranging from Mercedes’s new inline-six to the 4.0-liter AMG V8 and the 6.0-liter AMG V12. Oh, and it’ll also ditch the retractable hardtop used on the model since 2003 for a nice multi-layer soft top, since retractible hard tops are so 2008.