KGM Musso Xlv vs Volkswagen Amarok

What's the difference?

What new 4x4 dual-cab ute can you buy for $50K these days? Well, if you want to stick with the major players, $50K will only get you into base-model workhorses like the Ford Ranger XL 2.0L auto ($50,880), Toyota HiLux Workmate 2.4L auto ($50,420) or Isuzu D-Max SX ($50,700). And that's list pricing before on-road costs.

However, if you’re prepared to try something different, the same money can let you drive away in the top-shelf model of KGM SsangYong’s MY25 Musso range, which is a 4x4 dual-cab ute that's bursting with luxurious standard equipment.

We recently spent a week behind the wheel to determine if its comparative bargain pricing does not come at the expense of quality or performance.

This is a very important ute if you’re Volkswagen Australia.

A lot of time and money has gone into making sure this, the 2026 VW Amarok W600 as engineered by Walkinshaw, is the ultimate driver’s ute. Not the best 4X4, but the best ute on the road. Sounds like an odd task, right?

It might be, but a couple of thousand people bought the last version of this ute, so why not try to make it better?

Over a long development period and a steady build-up, including previews at the former Holden proving ground at Lang Lang, Volkswagen has teased its ‘ultimate driver’s ute’.

Now, we get to put the production version to the test on the very roads that helped shape it during its development in Tasmania.