GWM's large luxury pickup teased

Great Wall Motor looks set to reveal a production version of its upcoming full-sized pickup truck at this week’s Chengdu motor show.

The company has released a shadowy teaser of the pickup on its website, with a (translated) press release promising the new “high-performance luxury pickup” will have an “ultra-luxurious advanced business cockpit”.

It has confirmed the truck, which would slot in above the existing Ute (aka Cannon, Poer), will be powered by a turbocharged 3.0-litre petrol V6 engine mated with a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The new engine, also set to be used in Tank-branded SUVs, will produce 260kW of power and 500Nm of torque.

GWM has confirmed it’s also working on a plug-in hybrid version of this powertrain, with 389kW of power and 750Nm of torque.

It already revealed what we believe is a concept version of the pickup at last year’s Shanghai motor show under the X Cannon nameplate, and the teaser image suggests the production version won’t deviate much from that vehicle.

Reports from Chinese media at the time said the body-on-frame X Cannon used double-wishbone suspension at all four corners, with an optional air suspension and adaptive damping.

It reportedly shares its platform with the growing range of Tank-branded SUVs, including the Tank 300 and Tank 500 expected to join the local GWM lineup next year.

Tank vehicles can be had with features like locking front and rear differentials, an off-road creep mode, and, appropriately enough, a tank turn function.

That indicates a level of off-road ability baked into these underpinnings that could make the production GWM pickup competitive off the beaten track.

While official dimensions haven’t been released, the 5.4m-long GWM Ute is already slightly longer and wider than a dual-cab Ford Ranger.

The X Cannon, or whatever the production model is called, could therefore be sized more closely to the 5.9m+ Ram 1500.

Given the GWM Ute undercuts similarly-equipped (if more powerful) rivals like the Ranger by upwards of $20,000, it stands to reason GWM’s upcoming big pickup could offer a similar saving over American-brand models if it were to come here.

The segment is set to get even more competitive, with Ford confirming a locally remanufactured F-150 for launch next year – which, like GWM’s ute, will offer a turbo-petrol V6 engine.

Toyota has also confirmed it has commenced local development of a right-hand drive Tundra for Australia, though has stopped short of confirming launch timing. The full-sized pickup is being tested here in turbo-petrol hybrid V6 guise.