All it takes is money.
"Ideologies like this are what keep technology and science from advancement. There's absolutely no reason that an SUV or truck can't be efficient."
What keeps technology and science from "advancing," if by advancing you mean being more widely accepted, is cost. Those modern diesels are VERY expensive and no more reliable, if as reliable, and long-lasting than gasoline engines, as well as much more expensive to repair. I did the math on converting my charter boat to diesels and the math was that you could buy one Helluva lot of gas and rebuilt Chevy small blocks for the price of those diesels. Most people are buying a vehicle to get them from home to work and shopping and their appointments; the Sunday drive and the driving vacation are a thing of the past, so the "family car" is a thing of the past except for "mommy mobiles" like some SUVs, crossovers, and minivans. In the main, vehicles have become simply a commodity and like other commodities, cheap is good.
I'd be willing to bet that 90% of all the 4WD SUVs and crossovers have never had dirt under their wheels except perhaps in somebody's driveway. I'd be willing to bet that well over half of such vehicles in the US have never been driven in snow of any consequence. As to MLs, I live in a town where sometimes it seems every third vehicle is an ML, and this is a place where you can actually justify having a 4WD, and three quarters of the MLs I see are driven by women. In fact, well over half of all makes of SUV/crossover I see are being driven by women. The makers did a good job of selling these vehicles to the "security moms," because they're big, relatively, heavy, have 4WD, and are considered safe.
Frankly, even in a climate where you can justify 4WD, I'd never buy one new as a daily driver. Until I bought this ML fall a year ago, the last 4WD I had, I got rid of in '76 and have had either RWD or FWD sedans ever since because unless you have a steep driveway, live on a mountainside, or have a job that demands that you're always there and must come in early, you really don't need a 4WD even in urban Alaska.
I like the '99ML, and for what I paid for it, it is a great vehicle and is still a head turner. The car it replaced was also a '99, a Chrysler 300M, and compared to the 300M, the ML is lacking amenities and crude in some respects; the Ms climate control was much better, its sound system was better, its interior ergonomics were better, it was more reliable - as in never required ANY repair in the ten years I owned it; the ML ALWAYS needs something.
But to your fundamental point, I rode the bleeding edge of technology in electronics, especially computers, for some years; I always had to have the newest and "best." Frankly, all I did was beta development and I paid a very high price for all the bragging rights associated with latest and greatest. The computer I'm using now is a mid-line Dell about 4 yrs old, and I don't see replacing it with a newer one until it breaks; it is good enough. Buying new cars doesn't make any sense anymore unless you can expense them off; lease or buy used and let somebody else pay for the depreciation. And these days, nothing is going to prevent highend vehicles from drastically depreciating. The people who can really afford new high end vehicles can afford another new one, so they aren't buying used. The upkeep on even a ML in good shape is more than the lease or payments on lots of lowend cars. So, if I'm young or just not so well off, it makes more sense to buy a new Kia or Hundai or Ford that you can count on being utterly reliable or at least fixable under warranty for three to five years. You'd have to be nuts to buy something that costs over $125 just for an oil and filter change, and nearly $100 if you DIY plus the initial cost of an oil pump. Frankly, the Three-Pointed Star on it is the only reason I own mine, and I keep it in good enough shape that hardly anyone notices that it just became a teenager.