Gareth Evans is picking over how the KGM Musso stacks up as a value-driven pickup truck. Can it cope with his towing demands and still offer a comfortable daily drive?
Update 1: Welcome to the fleet
The recently rebranded KGM, formerly known as SsangYong, is a South Korean firm that’s been building Musso (derived from the Korean for ‘rhino’) pickups in its factory in Seoul since 1993. I’ve driven every version, and they’ve got consecutively more impressive as the generations passed. This latest KGM Musso has been on UK roads since 2018, with a heavy facelift in 2023 bringing it right up to spec in this competitive corner of the market.
After spending much of 2024 with its arch rival, the Isuzu D-Max, what better way to compare the relative talents of these two top-value trucks than spending six months with the KGM Musso to see what it’s like to live with?
The one I’m running is in Saracen specification, which means it’s the shorter of the two KGM Mussos available and the spec is top of the range. Headline figures include a huge payload rating of 1095kg, a braked towing weight of 3.5 tonnes, a 2.2-litre diesel engine and a six-speed automatic gearbox.
Luxuries include Android Auto, nappa leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel and LED headlights.
The Saracan+ boasts a longer payload area and whopping 1.2-tonne loading capacity, giving it the biggest load area available, but even in ‘normal’ Saracen specification I shouldn’t think I’ll have much need for additional storage.
Not only is the load bed vast, but it’s seriously deep too. My KGM Musso has an optional top roll cover (£1,419+VAT) and sports bars (£725+VAT including fitting) to further enhance its usefulness, and this will come in very handy indeed because I’m intending on putting the truck to regular, heavy use towing my race car and transporting all my kit to several events during 2025.
I’ll also be taking the Musso off the beaten track on occasion to test its mettle as a mud-plugger, having driven many rivals on the same farmland it’ll be fascinating to see how it stacks up. The spec sheet gets things off to a good start with a switchable four-wheel drive system including low-range gearbox, multilink rear suspension and plenty of axle articulation for tackling rugged terrain.
The list price for this pickup is £34,255+VAT, so with optional extras included the vehicle you see in the pictures would be £36,399+VAT. That puts it up against the D-Max DL40, which is a trim level up from the DL20 I tested last year. It’s worth noting that you can pay considerably more for a D-Max, though – the lifestyle-focused V-Cross is a fiver under £38k, while the Arctic Trucks AT35 is a whopping £52,495…
So what I’m testing here is a comparatively cheap truck with an impressive spec sheet. Can it cut the mustard when put to task, though? Let’s find out…
Update 2: The first 2000 miles
I’ve done 2,000 miles in the KGM Musso now, and it’s time to get my first impressions down. First and foremost, I’ve felt privileged to be able to enjoy the more premium features you simply don’t expect on a vehicle at this price level. The heated seats and steering wheel are front of mind here – a combination hitherto seen on much more expensive machinery.
I’m loving having Android Auto too. Its operation through the screen has been a godsend on multiple occasions, although plugging it in can be slightly irksome, and occasionally the sound begins to stutter. This is fixed by unplugging the cable and plugging it back in again, but in order to do this safely (and legally) you’ll need to stop driving, and you’ll need to wait for the system to kick back into action. I’d also prefer it to be wireless altogether, but beggars can’t be choosers. It’s still very impressively specified.
Towing is a primary use case for my time with the Musso, and I’ve been doing rather a lot as I frantically get my car ready for the race season to begin in early April. The reversing camera is an excellent feature for this, allowing me to reverse up to the tow ball accurately enough to hitch the trailer every single time. Well, almost… because the position of the camera on the tailgate means it gets extremely dirty in mid-winter conditions and can occasionally need a wipe before you can see properly.
And on the subject of tailgates, the roller cover over the load deck has taken a little getting used to. Locking and unlocking it is particularly confusing, because in order to keep it secure the locking mechanism is a complicated process of using a latch on the underside, the separate key in various positions and its button. It operates independently of the huge tailgate; which incidentally could do with some help from gas struts because it’s very heavy.
The roller cover itself is fine in its operation, but be warned: it’s not waterproof. This means I’m going to need to plan carefully to ensure I put items that can get wet just behind the cab, where it lets in most of the water. It does drain itself well, so it isn’t the end of the world, but if you’re looking for a vehicle to carry loads in a fully protected environment you’re going to need a proper canopy cover like I had fitted to the Isuzu D-Max I ran before.
In better news, the 2.2-litre diesel engine makes light work of dragging my 1,400kg trailer, and while the fuel economy to begin with was pretty disappointing, it’s improved a lot over the first few thousand miles as the engine is broken in. To start with it was doing less than 20mpg with the trailer hitched and 23mpg without, and at time of writing those figures have increased to 25mpg hitched and 28mpg empty.
So overall life’s getting better with this truck. I’m looking forward to the weather warming up and sampling those ventilated seats…
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