KGM SsangYong Musso dual-cab ute: Style and comfort for a winning price

Price: From $40,000 drive away
Drivetrain/economy/CO2 emissions: 2.2L turbo-diesel, 133kW/400Nm, 6-speed auto, 4WD, 8.6-9.0L/100km, 226-236g/km
Dimensions: Up to 5409mm long, 1950mm wide, 1855mm tall, 3210mm long wheelbase
Towing capacity/GVM/GCM: 3500kg/2880-2980kg/6380-6480kg
Warranty/roadside assistance/service intervals: Seven-year/unlimited km, five years of roadside assistance, annual/every 15,000km
Five-year service cost: $2298 ($459 per year)

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The dual-cab ute market in Australia is one of the more fiercely competitive segments in the world, with over 20 entrants from a wide range of car makers and even more due to arrive later this year.

One of the best value entrants is the KGM SsangYong Musso, which starts from just $40,000 drive away. In a market where most base model utes easily hit the $50,000 mark, that’s very refreshing. But is there more to the Musso than its value equation?

Price and equipment

Under the recently rebranded KGM SsangYong brand (KGM SsangYong has also announced it will become KGM Australia from June 1, 2025), the Musso offers three grades in Australia: base ELX, mid-spec Adventure and top-spec Ultimate. Each grade is also available in either standard form, or as the XLV, which increases the length for more capacity.

2025 KGM SsangYong Musso pricing (drive away):

Musso ELX standard features:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• Dusk-sensing automatic halogen headlights
• Rain-sensing automatic wipers
• Cruise control
• Autonomous emergency braking with forward collision warning
• Lane departure warning
• 12.3-inch digital LCD instrument cluster
• 12.3-inch touchscreen
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Leather steering wheel with height adjustment
• LED front and rear daytime running lights
• Front and rear fog lights
• Reversing camera
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Heated and power-folding mirrors
• Assisted tailgate operation

XLV adds:

• Extended length
• 20Nm extra torque (420Nm versus 400Nm)

Musso Adventure adds:

• 18-inch black alloy wheels
• LED front fog lights
• Reach-adjustable steering wheel
• Leather look seats
• Heated and cool vented front seats
• Tyre pressure monitoring

Musso Ultimate model adds:

• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Lane change-collision warning
• Safety exit warning
• 360-degree camera
• HID headlights
• Heated steering wheel
• Walk-up welcome system
• Touch-sensing front door locks with walk-away auto-door locking

Ultimate Luxury Pack (+$3000) adds:

• Dual-zone climate control
• Sunroof
• Leather upholstery
• Powered front seats with driver’s lumbar adjustment
• Heated rear outboard seats

Interior and practicality

The interior of the Musso is a very comfortable and well finished place to spend time, and features quality that’s above a lot of the competition. While there aren’t soft touch materials everywhere, it still has a soft touch dashboard and lower trim, and it’s quite well screwed together. It really feels more like an SUV than a ute – not a surprise given that it shares so much with its Rexton SUV sibling.

Centre of the cabin is a new 12.3-inch touchscreen with features such as wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s a really easy system to use and screen quality is also good. It would, however, be good to see features such as satellite navigation added to it. The digital driver’s display also measures 12.3-inches and looks good.

The Musso’s cabin offers good visibility, and its front seats are quite comfortable. Annoyingly, the base ELX doesn’t feature reach adjustment for the steering wheel, but the driving position is otherwise well featured with a good amount of adjustment.

The rear of the Musso is quite spacious for the segment and two tall adults will be quite comfortable. Even the base ELX features air vents, while stepping up to the Ultimate with the optional luxury pack even adds heated outboard rear seats. Unfortunately, all Musso models still use a lap sash rear centre belt.

The Musso’s tray is large and also has four tie down points. But if you need more space, the XLV adds a 300mm longer tub for an extra 251 litres of capacity, as well as a 110mm-longer wheelbase for extra interior space. Handily, even the ELX features an assisted tailgate.

Performance and economy

The KGM SsangYong Musso range uses a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that’s mated to a six-speed automatic transmission and a part-time four-wheel drive system with high and low range. In the standard car, it makes 133kW and 400Nm, with the XLV adding 20Nm more torque.

KGM SsangYong claims combined fuel consumption of 8.6L/100km (9.0L/100km for XLVs) and CO2 emissions of 226g/km (XLV: 236g/km). All Mussos feature a 75-litre fuel tank.

On the road

Based on the same body-on-frame platform as the seven-seat Rexton SUV, the Musso drives well. While it’s not as keen a handler as the Ford Ranger is, it’s comfortable and entirely pleasant to drive. Part of that pleasantness is due to a coil spring rear suspension set-up, which is still quite rare in the ute segment.

While the engine’s outputs aren’t amazing, the Musso’s secret weapon is just how quiet it is. The sound deadening used is fantastic and only under full acceleration is the engine really heard – it is far quieter than rivals like the Triton, BT-50 and D-Max.

Service and warranty

The KGM SsangYong Musso is covered by a seven-year/unlimited km warranty with five years of
roadside assistance.

Its service intervals are once-yearly/every 15,000km and a five-year/75,000km service cost is
$2298 ($459 annually).

Verdict: should I buy a KGM SsangYong Musso?

While it could be more powerful and offer more up-to-date safety features such as adaptive cruise control, the KGM SsangYong Musso is definitely a product that you shouldn’t overlook. Its chief drawcard is its amazing value equation – that you can get a well rounded and well equipped dual cab 4×4 diesel automatic ute for under $40,000 drive away is amazing in this day and age.

But unlike some rivals, the Musso isn’t rough around the edges – it’s actually relatively refined and nice to drive. Its cabin is good quality, its warranty is long, it’s practical and offers good payload and towing capability. On the checklist for a well-rounded dual-cab ute, it ticks an awful lot of boxes.