2023 GWM Ute Cannon Vanta prices

The GWM Ute is one of the more chrome-covered vehicles on the Australian market, but a new flagship variant changes that.

The Cannon Vanta slots in above the Cannon-X and, like the GWM Haval Jolion Vanta and Haval H6 Vanta, it has received the black-out treatment.

That means the 18-inch alloy wheels, grille, sports bar, exterior mirrors, door handles and badges are all finished in black – a similarly holistic black-out treatment to the H6 Vanta, rather than the more basic treatment of the Jolion Vanta which still wears a chrome grille.

The only bit of chrome visible is along the bottom of the windows, though this doesn’t appear in all photos of the Cannon Vanta.

You can also specify Crystal Black metallic paint, along with the four other finishes offered on the GWM Ute range: Pearl White, Pittsburgh Silver, Blue Sapphire, and Scarlet Red.

All finishes except Pearl White cost an extra $595.

The Cannon Vanta is priced at $46,490 drive-away, or $1000 more than the Cannon-X it’s based on. It’s backed by the same seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with five years of capped-price servicing and roadside assist.

It receives all of the Cannon-X’s standard equipment with the exception of roof rails. Specification highlights include:

• Leather upholstery
• Heated front seats
• Six-way power driver’s seat
• Four-way power passenger seat
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
• 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster
• Wireless phone charger
• LED headlights
• Privacy glass

There’s also a suite of active safety and driver assist technology, including:

• Autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection
• Lane-keep assist
• Adaptive cruise control
• Traffic sign recognition
• Surround-view camera

Available only with full-time four-wheel drive, the Cannon Vanta is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine producing 120kW of power and 400Nm of torque, mated with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

GWM quotes a braked towing capacity of 3000kg, and an unbraked figure of 750kg.

With 6292 sales to the end of October, the GWM Ute is outselling fellow challenger brand rivals the LDV T60 Max (4588 sales) and SsangYong Musso (1336).

MORE: Everything GWM Ute