Before Bentley makes it Bentayga super deluxe SUV no car maker had the guts to venture into this uncharted territory and test the waters. Now though, every one of them wants a piece. Range Rover is putting out more and more luxurious models, Rolls-Royce is building the Cullinan, Maserati has the Levante out, and there is the Mercedes-Maybach SUV which is being rapidly developed for a 2019 launch.

So Mercedes has plans to further expand the Maybach lineup and as with the previous models built under this badge, the new Mercedes-Maybach SUV will be based on a lowly Mercedes product. This time it will be the GLS SUV having the honor of underpinning a Maybach car, albeit with a stretched body, revised lights and grilles, and a much, much nicer interior. In fact, the word is the upcoming SUV is influenced in design by the Vision Maybach 6 concept of last year’s Villa d’Este.

This seems like the perfect recipe to make the Mercedes-Maybach SUV a proper rival for the likes of Bentley Bentayga and Range Rover Autobiography. But a connoisseur will probably find this thing a terrible old clichés, a regular Mercedes with some more wood and leather crammed into the cabin to impress the tasteless, clueless parvenu. But Mercedes doesn’t care. They are going to make a killing with this thing, especially in places like the Middle East and Russia. And that’s all that matters.

Via Autocar