SLA Roadster deve surgir até o final de 2014: plataforma MFA

In less than six months, the three-pointed star will be introducing the fifth and final member of the Mercedes-Benz MFA (Modular Front Architecture) platform, in the form of the CLA Shooting Brake.

A number of Mercedes-Benz officials have tried to put our minds at ease by repeatedly telling us that the MFA platform will only feature five models and that previous plans about a new roadster to slot under the SLK were put on hold. 

Well, you might want to take this with a grain of salt, but if our sources are correct, the Mercedes-Benz SLA Roadster isn't yet out of the question, despite the initial plans of creating such a model dating back to the first generation of the A-Class. 

We're sure that some of you still remember the highly-talked-about Vision SLA Concept, a petite roadster that was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in January 2000. 

With a body constructed mainly of aluminium and plastic, the Vision SLA was pretty much a Mercedes-Benz version of the traditional British lightweight roadster, a style which was later put into production by the ill-fated smart roadster and smart roadster coupe.

Sporting a 1.9-liter engine taken straight out of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class (W168) and front-wheel drive, the project was deemed as unfeasible in that form for a number of reasons. The most important ones were naturally related to the fact that the original A-Class platform was too expensive to be modified in order to also accommodate a niche roadster.

Now that every single model built on the highly-lucrative MFA platform is or is about to be selling like hot cakes, the introduction of a sub-SLK roadster built on it has been again discussed at high level at Daimler, with an official ruling on the matter to be decided in the upcoming months".