North American Debut for Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG at 2009 LA Auto Show

Just to be clear, there's nothing new - or at least nothing we haven't seen before at other shows- for Mercedes-Benz at the forthcoming 2009 LA Auto Show in December. The major attraction at the firm's booth will be the 563-horsepower SLS AMG 'gullwing' supercar that will make its North American debut in Los Angeles along with the diesel-powered E350 BlueTEC and the fuel-cell-powered F-Cell.

The SLS AMG, which is the first-ever car designed and developed from the ground up by Mercedes' AMG division, is due to go on sale Spring of 2010 with a Roadster version following towards the end of 2011.

The new E350 BlueTEC that will be available in all 50 states in Spring 2010 is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 diesel producing an output of 210 horsepower and 400 lb.-ft. of torque. According to Mercedes, it returns approximately 30 percent better fuel economy than a comparable gasoline engine.

As for the F-Cell, it runs on compressed hydrogen and has a range of around 240 miles. Next year, 200 production F-Cell cars will be delivered to customers in both the the U.S. and Europe as part of a special lease program.