Mercedes Rolls Out World's Most Expensive SUV

If you'd like your passengers to be able to sip from silver champagne flutes in comfort while being transported across rugged terrain—and you have at least $500,000 to spare—look no further than the Mercedes-Maybach G-Class 650 Landaulet. The ultra-high-end SUV, described by Road and Track as the ideal vehicle for the world's extravagant dictators, was introduced at the Geneva auto show as the latest addition to parent company Daimler AG's luxury Maybach brand. Only 99 of them will ever be made, and while the final price tag hasn't been settled, it is expected to be the most expensive SUV ever produced, Fortune reports.

With features like massage seats and thermal cup holders, "this car meets the highest demands for luxury and yet still has all the elements that make the G-Class a real off-roader," Mercedes SUV chief Gunner Guethenke tells Bloomberg, which notes that the company may be trying to offset the costs of developing electric cars and self-driving vehicles with its top-end ventures. So how does it handle? Car and Driver took the "most over-the-top vehicle imaginable" for a spin and found that "craggy rocks, nasty holes, and muddy swampy bogs are simply nonissues," and while speed is not the primary goal, "if the order arrives from the rear seat, the chauffeur can hurl it forward with gusto." (More Mercedes-Benz stories.)