Category: GWM

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TANK – BIG NEWS IN THE BIG SUV DEPARTMENT

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. It’s not so long ago that the first Hyundai topped the $70,000 mark. The 2015 Genesis was good, but would buyers be prepared to pay that much for a Korean car, everyone wondered? Fast forward and we now have GWM’s first vehicle to pass this milestone — its flagship Tank 500 Ultra PHEV seven-seat off-roader. And once again we find ourselves pondering whether buyers will stump up this sort of money to buy a Chinese vehicle this time. In its defence, the large SUV is a substantial offering with… Read more

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DIESEL IN TOP-UP FOR TANK 300

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As sports utility vehicles go, the Tank 300, a middleweight with petrol or hybrid punch, these days is a little nippier on its feet thanks to the addition of a turbodiesel engine. However, has the Great Wall Motors off roader still a way to go to match the opposition? Available in two well-appointed grades – Lux and Ultra – the new Tank 300 diesel is powered by GWM’s 2.4-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder engine, delivering 135kW of power at 3600rpm and 480Nm of torque from 1500 to 2500rpm. Mated with a nine-speed… Read more

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HAVAL H7 VANTA HEV

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Haval has gone for a rugged, almost retro-look with its new the mid-sized H7 Hybrid, emphasised by bolt-on mudguard flares. Well, they look like they bolt on, but despite the rugged exterior it is actually front- wheel drive and shares its underpinnings with the softer H6 plug-in hybrid that we tested recently — though you can’t plug this one in. Which is kinda funny, we had planned to grab a charge spot across the road from the Orpheum Theatre in crowded Cremorne — until we discovered it doesn’t have a… Read more

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GWM HAVAL H6 ULTRA PHEV – THE STARS ARE STARTING TO ALIGN

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Great Wall’s Haval H6 PHEV is the third plug-in hybrid that we have driven in as many weeks. Dating back to 2011, the third generation H6 made its debut at the 2020 Chengdu Motor Show. And, all jokes aside, it’s the first Haval to sit on the ‘Lemon’ platform – we kid you not. H6 is GWM’s all-time, best-selling model, with more than 4 million sales globally. The plug-in version was added in 2021, with a new-look front and available in petrol, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid form. “Every inch of… Read more

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HAVAL H6GT PLUGS IN TO A NEW WORLD

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With more than 32,000 sales in Australia, the Haval H6 has never been backward at coming forward. And that’s not about to change anytime soon if the brand’s first plug-in electric vehicle is anything to go by. PHEVs have been slow to take off, but with ballooning fuel prices, climate change through fossil-fuel pollution and the ever-present driver albatross of ‘range anxiety’, things are changing. And the new H6GT, with its bumper 35.4kWh battery, has gone straight to the top of the segment with an electricity-only range, with zero emissions,… Read more

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PLUG-IN POWER PLAY TO HYBRID HEIGHTS

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With the landing of its Cannon Alpha plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in Australia, Great Wall Motors has shot its big ute into a leading spot in the segment, the Chinese maker claiming the PHEV sets a new yardstick in performance, range, and capabilities for electrified vehicles in the segment. GWM’s second model to enter the growing PHEV market in Australia, following the Haval H6GT PHEV, the Cannon Alpha PHEV comes in two variants, the Lux and Ultra on the market for $63,990 and $68,990 respectively, driveaway. The maker claims the… Read more

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GWM CANNON ULTRA UTE … WHAT A BLAST!

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As the price of 4×4 sports utilities continue to climb, Great Wall’s Cannon ute is an attractive alternative. It’s not just a little cheaper but a lot cheaper than the front runners of the segment, and not at the expense of build quality these days. While Toyota’s Hilux tops out at more than $70,000 and the Ford Ranger Raptor at more than $90,000, you can get into a top of the line Cannon XSR for as little as $49,990 — that’s drive away. And that’s becoming difficult to ignore. STYLING… Read more

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HAVAL H6 PHEV DRIVES YOUR DOLLAR FURTHER

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Great Wall Motors (aka GWM) continues to lead the way in China’s surge into the Australian new vehicle market, currently sitting in seventh place overall. Nearly two-thirds of these sales come from the Haval sub-brand and its Joleon and H6 SUVs. The larger of the pair, the H6, has been here since 2017 and has grown steadily in the highly-competitive medium SUV segment against big-hitters like RAV4, Outlander, CX-5 and Sportage. Originally petrol-only, it added a conventional petrol/electric hybrid variant in 2022, followed in early 2025 by GWM’s first ever… Read more

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RAMBO IN CARPET SLIPPERS’ DRIVES TANK INTO BATTLE

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Tank, in all its connotations, seems a strange name for a peacetime passenger vehicle. Maybe it’s lost something in translation from its native Chinese? Be that as it may, the maker Great Wall Motors as seen fit thus to designate its ‘300’ and ‘500’ SUVs. The new Tank 300 is the third of the 300s and the first pure petrol model. The previous pair being petrol / electric hybrids. Described by GWM as ‘rugged and refined’ (Rambo in carpet slippers, perhaps), the Tank 300 couple come in Lux and Ultra… Read more

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GWM HAVAL JOLION

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The growth in sales of Chinese vehicles continues to gain momentum. While the SAIC subsidiary, MG Motor, is leading the way with its big-selling SUVs the original breakthrough was made a decade ago with the Great Wall company targeting the tradie market with cheap workhorse utilities of questionable safety quality. That’s all changed and Great Wall, now re-branded as GWM and with improved quality, and an expanded range that now includes three SUVs sales have jumped to such an extent that in September 2024 GWM broke through into Australia’s top… Read more