Mercedes SLS AMG successor is on its way

No sooner than we wave goodbye to the SLS AMG (in the form of the epic GT Final Edition), Mercedes have chosen to whet our appetite with its successor – simply named ‘GT’.

The new GT is the second sports car developed independently by Mercedes-AMG since the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, which was built between 2003 and 2010. McLaren then went on to build the 12C, 650S and P1, while Mercedes channelled their efforts into the SLS AMG, which ceased production earlier this year.

They’ve provided a preview of the GT’s interior in these pictures, using them to hint at the sports car’s final form.

There’s not much to say except that it’s powered by a V8 engine, as was its predecessor. The interior has been designed to reflect the engineering brief with the controls on the AMG Drive Unit “arranged like eight cylinders in a V layout.”

Mercedes-AMG’s CEO, Tobias Moers, describes the GT as a more focused sports car than the SLS “The new Mercedes-AMG GT shows that we will be positioning AMG more vehemently and aggressively than to date as a dynamic sports car brand,” and goes on to say “The technological substance of the Mercedes-AMG GT underscores our high aspirations with regard to driving dynamics, agility and sportiness.”

So we know it will be powered by a V8 engine, seat two people and be more dynamically focused than the SLS.

The interior is said to “embody emotion and sensuality like no other sports car,” with its central “aviation design” theme typical of Mercedes sports cars. The dashboard emphasises the car’s width, creating an impression of a powerful wing, supported by the four central spotlight-style vents and the individual vents at the left and right ends of the dashboard. Mercedes describes the dominant centre console as being “reminiscent of a NACA air intake”, alluding towards the GT’s motor racing inspiration (and presumably aspirations).

With 2014 set to become a dominant year for Mercedes in F1, the GT looks like being a timely way to celebrate the brand’s success when it debuts in Autumn this year.