Sources
  • The KGM Musso Saracen has now covered 1,900 miles in Professional Builder's long-term loan test, and the current focus is on the part of the job that the brochure photographs never show: navigating residential streets during active trade deliveries.
  • The Saracen is a proper double-cab pick-up, which means it carries overall dimensions that demand a degree of route planning. At over five metres in length, it is longer than a standard short-wheelbase Transit, and the double cab body adds width compared to a single-cab equivalent. In a market where pick-ups have historically been sold to rural and agricultural buyers, the KGM's move into urban trade territory puts that geometry under real scrutiny.
  • The 1,900-mile update from Professional Builder's test concentrates on how the truck copes with the tight turning circles, narrow access roads and restricted parking bays that define residential construction and renovation work in UK towns and cities. This is the environment that often separates a genuinely useful trade vehicle from one that looks the part but frustrates the driver daily.
  • KGM, formerly SsangYong, rebranded in the UK market in late 2023 and has positioned the Musso Saracen as a vehicle for tradespeople who want pick-up practicality without paying Land Rover Ranger Rover Sport prices. The Saracen uses a 2.2-litre diesel engine producing 181bhp and 420Nm of torque. To put that torque figure into everyday terms: it is enough pulling power to haul a fully loaded single-axle plant trailer without the engine feeling stressed, which is the kind of load that quickly reveals a diesel's real-world usability.
  • The long-term test continues. The third update is expected around the 3,000-mile mark, when Professional Builder plans to look at payload capacity and whether the load bed dimensions work practically for sheet materials and bagged products.
  • ## Quick Spec: KGM Musso Saracen
  • **Engine:** 2.2-litre turbo diesel
  • **Power:** 181bhp
  • **Torque:** 420Nm (enough to pull a loaded single-axle trailer with ease)
  • **Transmission:** 6-speed automatic with 4WD
  • **Payload:** up to 1,050kg (approximately one full pallet of bricks or bagged concrete)
  • **Body:** Double cab with open load bed
  • Life with a KGM Musso part 2, Professional Builder
  • KGM Automotive UK