FINALLY, Mercedes-Benz is at the pointy end of the luxury SUV segment with the third-generation M-Class, offering significant upgrades and improvements pretty much across the board.

Mercedes has also upped the value-for-money quotient in a big way, to match the palpably more impressive quality that now permeates Daimler’s US-built wagon.

A few minor foibles still exist, however, while we wonder whether the cheaper diesel might be the more desirable offering compared to the ML350 Blue Efficiency under the spotlight here.