2000 Mercedes SLA Concept pictured above

As stated by Daimler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche stated last month, Mercedes-Benz has a plan to overtake arch-rivals Audi and BMW and become the leading premium carmaker in the world. The plan involves a barrage of new models, some of which we will see next Tuesday at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

According to a report from Australian website GoAuto, Mercedes intends to utilize the 2012 A-Class MFA platform to not only launch the CLC in four-door coupe and shooting brake variants, but also a new front-wheel drive small roadster.

The roofless two-seater, which could go on sale as early as 2013, will be placed under the SLK in Mercedes’ range and will be the first front-wheel drive roadster in the company’s history.

Although the German automaker would not deny nor confirm the story, Mercedes-Benz Australia communications manager David McCarthy admitted that Audi’s TT, which the new roadster would go against, “has attracted the sort of people who would not have considered that kind of sports car before”.

And yes, we too think that McCarthys statement sounds a bit out of place since the SLK directly competes against the Audi TT.

In any case, the car is said to carry the SLA moniker and will probably be similar in size and proportions to the 2000 Vision SLA concept pictured in this gallery, but it will adopt the company’s new family look especially at the front, where it will resemble the SLS AMG and the new SLK.

If the SLA gets the green light, it will ditch the SLK’s hard-top folding roof in favor of a lighter and cheaper soft-top. The suspension will follow the usual McPherson front struts and multilink rear setup, while power will come from a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and possibly even diesel units, which have already been introduced in the new SLK.

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