Ssangyong Musso review

The cheapest Ssangyong Musso – in EX trim – looks startlingly good value against its rivals. However, unless you are planning on using your pickup solely as a working vehicle, we recommend raising your selection to Rebel. This comes with a lot more kit, including 18in wheels, roof bars, side steps, a rear camera, heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel and an 8.0in infotainment system (see Interior). 

The range-topping Saracen is still surprisingly good value and adds leather seats (versus the faux leather ones in the Rebel), cruise control, heated rear seats and a front skid plate. Rhino sits at the top of the range, featuring the longer bed and rear privacy glass, but replacing the 18in wheels with 17in.

The fact that the Musso’s single engine option isn’t particularly competitive on CO2 emissions won’t worry company buyers too much because pickups are classed as light commercial vehicles and are taxed at a single flat rate. As you might expect from such a large vehicle, fuel economy is nothing special, with the trip computer reading high 20s for MPG at best, but then again that's true of most of its rivals.

Ssangyong claims that the Musso is “one of the toughest pick-ups on the market” and backs this up with an impressive seven-year, 150,000-mile warranty. That's a boon for buyers planning to use their Musso as a serious workhorse.

The Musso isn’t the most sophisticated vehicle, though, and that’s reflected in the extent of its safety equipment. All models come with six airbags, but there’s no automatic emergency braking or road sign recognition, and blindspot assistance is only included on Rhino models. We’re still waiting to find out how the Musso fares in Euro NCAP’s crash tests and Thatcham Research’s security assessment.