GWM

Great Wall Motors has endeavoured to iron out some of the bumps in its new-generation Ute just months after going on sale in Australia. In response to feedback from early test drives by customers and media, GWM says it has smoothed out the twitchy throttle response and reduced turbo lag with a new software calibration.

The 2021 GWM Baja Snake ute was developed with no input from Shelby, despite initial reports to the contrary. Unveiled at the 2021 Shanghai motor show last week, GWM's hardcore Baja Snake was purported to have been developed in collaboration with legendary American muscle car tuner Shelby, with input from the US outfit likely centring around the dual-cab's mechanical upgrades.

The 2021 GWM X Cannon is China’s answer to full-size American pick-ups – including the Ram 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado – but it has the option of hybrid power. Unveiled at the 2021 Shanghai motor show, the X Cannon slots above the existing Ute (which, confusingly, offers a Cannon-X variant locally) in GWM’s pick-up range, with a bold dual-cab design first previewed in teaser images earlier this month.

Australian sales of cars from China have overtaken those from Germany and the USA for the first time in our automotive history – following an astronomical 156 per cent sales surge in January 2021. While China was the sixth biggest source of new motor vehicles last year – after a staggering 70 per cent increase compared with 2019 – China now ranks in fourth place behind Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

Great Wall Motors (GWM) had a quiet 2020, with its segment-cheapest Steed tallying up just shy of 1700 sales, and not receiving any significant updates. This might all change however, with the arrival of the all-new GWM Ute Cannon. It's already on sale in 2020, but will have an opportunity to shake up the segment in 2021.