2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK revealed

Following its premature unveiling in a French-language marketing video late last year, Mercedes-Benz has now issued official photographs of the new SLK.

Set to make its debut at the German carmaker's 125th birthday celebrations in Stuttgart at the end of January--prior to North American sales beginning this summer--the popular two-seat roadster was thoroughly re-engineered with a new rear-wheel-drive platform and more contemporary engine and gearbox combinations. The car will make its auto-show debut in Geneva.

The SLK also gets a slew of the latest fuel-saving technologies, a sportier chassis with adaptive damping and an electronic steering system.

Clad in a fresh look developed under Mercedes-Benz design boss Gorden Wagener, the third-generation roadster, known internally under the code name R172, is more sculpted and is a good deal more confident than its strong-selling predecessor, with tauter surfacing and more defined creases within its steel-and-aluminum body. There also is a slightly longer wheelbase and widened tracks to give it fresh visual appeal that Stuttgart officials hope will find it favor not only among existing SLK customers, but also among owners of the Audi TT roadster, the BMW Z4 and the Porsche Boxster.

Up front, an SLS-inspired grille and a heavily contoured hood combine to provide the SLK with a less aggressive appearance than that of the old model, which mimicked the SLR's forceful Formula One-inspired front-end styling. Mercedes-Benz designers also gave the SLK a number of interesting exterior details, including angular headlamps, stylized vents within the front fenders, a squared-off trunk for increased luggage space and tail lamps that wrap well around into the rear flanks.

The new car has grown in size in a move that provides added interior accommodation and improved safety credentials. However, the increases are all minor and ensure that the new SLK retains the familiar proportions as before.

Holding true to a tradition built up over the last 14 years, the roadster continues to eschew a traditional fabric roof for a reworked version of the old model's folding hardtop. It now comes with the choice of a standard aluminum, fixed-tint-glass or electromagnetic variable-tint-glass panel--the latter of which is called Magic Sky Roof and can go from light to dark at the press of button.

Inside, there's an angular dashboard modeled on that used by the SLS with distinctive round vents, reworked instruments, more contemporary switchgear and a new range of trims. Continuing the quality drive that started with the launch of the second-gen SLK, Mercedes-Benz gave the new model more upmarket materials and features as standard--as exemplified by its stylish new three-spoke steering wheel.

Extensive wind-tunnel testing brings a new transparent plastic air-guide panel that sits between the fixed rollover hoops behind the seats and pivots to alter the flow of air through the cabin at speed. As before, buyers will also be able to option the new SLK with Mercedes-Benz's patented Airscarf system that places vents in the upper section of the seatbacks for added warmth during top-down journeys.

The SLK will get two engines in North America in its first year. It launches with the 3.5-liter V6 making 302 hp. That engine can hit 60 mph in 5.4 seconds on the way to a top speed of 155 mph. A base version, the four-cylinder SLK250, will join the lineup later in the year with 201 hp from a 1.8-liter displacement.

A replacement for the SLK55 AMG is expected to appear at the Frankfurt motor show in September. It's earmarked to receive a yet-to-be-revealed naturally aspirated version of AMG's new 5.5-liter V8 producing about 422 hp.

By Greg Kable