2010 Mercedes-Benz SLK300
The 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class will share many components with the company's latest C-Class. The 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLK300 is shown here. See pictures of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLK.

Consumer Guide's Impressions of the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class

A timely redesign promises fresh looks, more power, and slight dimensional gains for the pioneer hideaway-hardtop sports car. The next SLK-Class should also be easier on gas, but the real shocker is a rumored all-electric version.

What We Know About the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class

Hard to believe, but the Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class has been around a dozen years, bowing back in 1998 as the first modern convertible with a hideaway hardtop instead of a fabric roof. Mercedes' junior two-seater was last redesigned for 2005, so another makeover is fast coming due. But the tri-star people are on the case, hence reports of a European launch sometime in 2011. The U.S. should greet the third-generation SLKs as 2012 entries.

Like its predecessors, the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class will share many components with the company's latest C-Class premium-compact cars, in this case the new-for-2008 versions. Typical of this brand, the SLK rethink mixes evolutionary styling and slightly larger dimensions with new technology intended to enhance performance, fuel efficiency, comfort, convenience, and probably snob appeal.

Sightings of test prototypes confirm the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class will continue the model's customary long-hood and short-deck proportions, wedgy profile, and a power-fold metal roof arching over the cockpit. The main visual changes occur up front in response to new pedestrian-protection standards in the European Union. Today's sloping "arrowhead" nose thus gives way to a higher, flatter hood and a large one-piece main grille, a treatment said to resemble the face of big-brother SL. The front end also grows a bit, thanks to a slight wheelbase stretch and an added inch or so ahead of the front wheels. Balancing this is a slightly longer, more-bulbous tail that reportedly swells max trunk volume by 0.7 cubic feet--not much of a gain, but welcome all the same. Other reported styling features include LED running lamps in larger headlight clusters and functional air vents on the front fenders.

As for the interior, Britain's CAR magazine expects the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class to be a step above the parent C-Class for materials and workmanship--more like the redesigned 2010 E-Class premium-midsize cars, but with a sportier air. CAR also says the SLK will pick up several big-Benz options including multi-contour massaging seats, lane-departure warning, night vision, and perhaps the automaker's new "Attention Assist" system that provides audio and visual warnings if sensors detect a possible drowsy driver at the wheel.

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