I was stuck in traffic the other day behind a Mercedes Benz SUV and the vehicle just seemed to me to be a rolling contradiction. I thought SUV’s were originally supposed to be trucks that you can take off road (that’s what four wheel drive is for) and get dirty and go places normal cars can’t. Who in their right mind would do that with a Mercedes? How many dirty Mercedes-Benz’s do you see driving around? Maybe they come with a little person in the back that jumps out and washes the car every hour. 
Oh, I’d guess that 98% of all the non-luxury SUVs are never taken off road either.
Did you say Off Road Benz? ??? 
Jeep was trying to sell it’s Grand Wagoneer as a luxury vehicle as early as the 1980s.
We had an '87 GW. Essentially a '60s-era truck, but they threw on leather-trimmed seats, hood ornaments and all other manner of geegaws to make it look high-end. (And nothing says high-end like that vinyl woodgrain siding!) The retail price, if I recall correctly, was pretty stout for the time.
You could argue that the Grand Wagoneer (or the full-sized Cherokee it was based on) was one of the first SUVs. Don’t know if you could accuse SUV’s as a group of long-standing aspirations to luxury, but it’s nothing new for at least a few of them.
The first SUV was of course the Range Rover, introduced in 1973 if I’m not mistaken.
And that M-Class is not an offroader. If you want a Benz, and[ you want to take in through some dirt, there is only the Geländewagen, or G-Class. That thing can seriously plow. In fact, I’ve driven quite a few off-roaders, and IMHO, only a Land Rover 90 and perhaps a SWB LandCruiser will get you farther in the mud.
But make no mistake - Mercedes has been building offroaders for a very long time, and they’re quite good at it. The M-Class just happens to be a bad example: not as good in the dirt as the G-Class, and very poorly built compared to EU-built Mercedesses. Mercedi? 
Most of those “SUVs” are nothing more than minivans, IMHO if it wasn’t built on a truck frame it’s a minivan. luxury SUV is an oxymoron.
Under the influence of German auto industry propaganda I always thought that SUVs were by definition fake off-roaders. The Mercedes M and BMW X5 are vaguely off-roader shaped and have a 4-wheel-drive. That’s it. At least here they are understood as a type of luxury car for those who value sport, power and a little perceived additional freedom higher than elegance and usability. The technology of both comes from the passenger cars unlike the G-class that has more truck relations.
I guess they do make a real SUV 
My Wifes Grand Jeep Cherokee is pretty luxurious. And if does great off road, deep snow whatever. It is built on a standard ladder frame, and has solid axles.
My older Pathfinder is less luxurious, but is still a nice driving, comfortable vehicle. It too does great off road and in deep snow.
Maybe you just don’t think SUV’s should be comfortable. Since they are our daily drivers, I’m glad they are.
I live near a RR track with many local roads crossing it. The cars that drive the slowest across the tracks are SUVs, of course. You don’t want to damage your valuable SUV by driving over something bumpy at the same speed as regular cars, do you!
Plus, you have to buy an SUV for “safety reasons”, I guess because you like rollovers a lot, or something like that…
[quoteYou don’t want to damage your valuable SUV by driving over something bumpy at the same speed as regular cars, do you![/quote]
SUV’s and trucks have stiffer suspension than cars do. This is the reason some people will drive slower over speed bumps etc.
When off-roading, the speed is usually pretty slow too.