GWM wants to close the gap in power and torque between its Cannon Ute and key rivals.
A new 2.4-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine, revealed earlier this year for the Chinese-market model, has been confirmed for our market.
“That will be the first half of the year,” GWM Australia and New Zealand managing director Charles Zhao told CarExpert when asked when it’s coming.
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The 2.4-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine produces 135kW of power at 3600rpm and 480Nm of torque between 1500 and 2500rpm – up 15kW and 80Nm on the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four in the Australian-market GWM Cannon Ute.
For context, the Ford Ranger pumps out 154kW and 500Nm when equipped with its 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine, while the Toyota HiLux’s 2.8-litre turbo-diesel four produces 150kW and 500Nm.
The regular Cannon Ute’s eight-speed auto is also swapped out for a nine-speed unit.
Unlike other variants in the GWM Ute range, the 2.4-litre powered dual-cab will feature a braked towing capacity of 3500kg, on par with the Ranger and HiLux.
This powertrain is already used in the Australian-market Cannon Alpha, which does boast a 3500kg braked towing capacity figure.
In addition to the option of a more powerful turbo-diesel engine, the Cannon has also received a subtle facelift and an overhauled interior in China. These changes were first revealed last April.
GWM hasn’t confirmed whether we’ll receive the full extent of changes applied to the Chinese-market model.
The Chinese-market model features a new, modern dashboard design, with a free-standing 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen (up from 9.0 inches) and a 50W wireless phone charger.
Physical switchgear on the centre stack has been reduced, with just a single row of buttons below the touchscreen. The central air vents sits below this row.
There’s a new steering wheel design, while a new shifter – shared with GWM’s Tank SUVs – sits on the centre console. The console is also lined with leatherette trim.
External changes are much more subtle, but include a restyled front bumper and grille.
GWM says the updated ute now includes Level 2+ autonomous driving technology, including traffic jam assist, while the vehicle supports over-the-air updates and can be remotely started, locked or unlocked, among other functions.
There’s also a semi-autonomous parking assist function.
GWM continues to split the Cannon range into four separate lines in China: a commercial version; a version aimed more at private buyers; an off-road version; and the unusual single-cab Artillery.
Only the private buyer and off-road versions are sold in Australia, the latter badged as the Cannon-XSR.
The Cannon/Ute was revealed in 2020 and arrived locally in 2021 to replace the Steed.
It’s the best-selling of the cheaper ‘challenger’ utes in Australia, with 5474 units delivered this year to the end of August. That put it ahead of the rival LDV T60 (4438 sales) and SsangYong Musso (2417 sales).
