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Bruce Newton19 Jan 2021
REVIEW

GWM Ute 2021 Review

The GWM Ute is here and we may never regard Chinese vehicles the same again
Model Tested
Review Type
Local Launch
Review Location
Melbourne, Australia

It had to happen someday. A brand had to come along and simply redefine the value equation in the 4x4 dual-cab segment. As Toyota, Ford and the like spiral pricing through $70,000, the GWM Ute arrives starting below $35,000 and offering plenty of gear including a standard auto, good looks and a drive experience that is far from traditional Chinese fare. You may not believe it, but the future might just have arrived.

Tipping point?

Is the 2021 GWM Ute a tipping point for Chinese vehicles in Australia?

It lobs into an incredibly popular part of the market with a compelling price and equipment pitch, looks the part and doesn’t drive too badly either (we’ll get to that a bit further on).

In other words, it ticks a hell of a lot more boxes than just about any other Chinese vehicle sold in Australia and, certainly, any other Chinese ute.

Speaking of such things, the GWM Ute replaces the Great Wall Motors Steed. The Great Wall Motors name is now an overarching moniker, like General Motors is for Chevrolet, Cadillac and so on. GWM Pickup is now the ute brand, while sister brand Haval – also sold in Australia – remains focused on SUVs. Other divisions in China are Wey (luxury SUVs) and Ora (EVs).

Great Wall is China’s number two privately-owned vehicle conglomerate behind Geely and has been in Australia since 2009, initially distributed by Ateco Automotive and by a factory-owned sales company since 2016.

Built in China, there are three GWM Ute grade levels: Cannon, Cannon-L and Cannon-X. Here we’re testing the mid-spec Cannon-L.

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At this point you’re probably scratching your head about the name. There were lots of options, including Poer (yes without the ‘w’), but they all were ruled unsuitable for one reason or another. So Ute it is, with Cannon thrown in for a bit of atmospherics.

The three GWM Ute models are technically identical. They are all powered by an uprated 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine from the Steed. The only transmission choice for now is an eight-speed auto which hooks up to a part-time 4x4 system.

Pricing is super-sharp: $33,990 for the entry model, $37,990 for the L and $40,990 for the X. Those prices are drive-away, making them even more enticing.

As a starting point GWM is aiming for about 200-300 Ute sales per month in Australia through its rapidly expanding dealer network. The base model will account for about 20 per cent and the other two about 40 per cent each.

Plenty of equipment ensures none of the established dual-cabs such as the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger get anywhere near this thing on bang for your buck.

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Standard comfort equipment includes keyless entry and push-button start, a 9.0-inch infotainment touch-screen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connection, USB ports front and rear (and a 220V plug in the rear), artificial leather seat trim, an electric park brake, 18-inch alloy wheels and side steps.

The L upgrades from manual air-conditioning to single-zone clime control with rear outlets, adds driver’s seat power adjustment, front seat heating, cheap-feeling leather steering wheel trim, a sports bar, hydraulic struts and a nifty pop-out ladder for the tailgate, and a spray-in tub liner. It also swaps to different alloy wheels and bright chrome bars in the big grille.

The X inventory includes real leather seat trim, a 7.0-inch colour instrument cluster, wireless smartphone charging, front passenger seat power adjustment, 60/40-split folding rear seat and voice recognition.

One thing the X gets that should be standard across the range is telescopic adjustment of its steering column. The other two only adjust vertically. No GWM Ute comes with embedded sat-nav. You’ll have to rely on your smartphone or a paper map (remember those?) for navigation.

Look out for a big range of the usual dual-cab accessories coming to your GWM dealer soon.

The GWM Ute comes with a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and five-year/100,000km roadside assistance. The first service is at 5000km and then comes every 12 months or 10,000km after that. The kilometre interval is short by modern standards.

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Lots of safety

The advanced level of safety systems in the 2021 GWM Ute is one of its most compelling assets. The combination of driver assist features and centre airbag make it theoretically eligible for a maximum five-star ANCAP rating. The old Steed scored two stars in 2016.

The GWM Ute’s standard safety inventory includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition.

All this delivers hands-off level 2 driving autonomy, until the system demands you put your hands back on the wheel.

There are seven airbags, high and low beam LED headlights, a tyre pressure monitoring system, rear parking sensors and, from the Cannon-L up, a 360-degree camera and front sensors.

There are five lap-sash seatbelts, five head restraints and ISOFIX and anchor points for child seats.

Pricing and Features
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Most of it is new

Apart from the four-cylinder GW4D20M engine, there is very little of the 2021 GWM Ute that relates back to the Steed.

But even that has been significantly overhauled with a variable-geometry turbo, variable turbo inlet, upgraded air throttle intake and camshaft.

The old version of the engine made 110kW/310Nm and averaged 9.0L/100km. The new version ramps that up to 120kW/400Nm and, er, 9.4L/100km.

Over about 600km of highly varied running across a couple of days we averaged about 11.0L/100km. That emphasises how hard the small engine works. Remember, in terms of output it doesn’t match any of the big players in the segment.

The new auto comes from ZF and the 4x4 system for Borg-Warner. The latter includes low range and a locking rear differential, as a well as single high-range 4x2 (dubbed eco) and two 4x4 modes (standard and sport). There’s also hill start assist and descent control.

Underpinning the GWM Ute is a modified version of the high-strength steel ladder-frame used by the Haval H9 SUV. Dubbed P71, it comes with a double wishbone front-end and leaf springs at the rear. Steering is electric assist with only the X getting three different tuning modes. Disc brakes are fitted all-round.

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The GWM Ute measures 5410mm long, 1886mm wide and 1934mm high, making it much bigger than the Steed and pretty similar to the popular Ford Ranger.

Wheelbase is 3230mm, ground clearance 194mm (laden), approach angle 27 degrees, departure angle 25 degrees and ramp breakover angle 21.1 degrees (unladen).

According to the VIN plate on our test Cannon-L, the kerb weight is 2100kg and gross vehicle mass 3150kg, delivering a competitive 1050kg payload.

The maximum braked towing capacity is 3000kg – down 500kg from the class maximum – but no gross combined mass is listed. We’ve asked for it, so if we get it we’ll pass it on.

According to the trusty carsales tape measure, the GWM Ute’s tub is 1570mm long and 1560mm wide. But between the wheel arches it is only 1013mm wide, meaning it won’t fit an 1165mm x 1165mm Aussie pallet.

Light years ahead

As part of this drive review, carsales invited a highly experienced vehicle development engineer to sample the 2021 GWM Ute Cannon-L. We’ll keep him anonymous, but take it from us he knows his stuff.

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Importantly, he has had plenty of experience with utes and Chinese vehicles and his verdict was positive. He was in no doubt this was the best vehicle of this type he’d experienced to come from China.

Yes, he thought there was some tuning required and some fine points to be addressed, but he judged the GWM Ute’s fundamentals to be right.

What was obvious from the start of the first drive was the effort GWM has put into noise damping the cabin. The small engine doesn’t have the greatest soundtrack, but it never gets rowdy.

When up and rolling the engine does its job efficiently enough without being inspiring. However, at tip-in throttle there’s an inordinate delay before anything happens. It then takes a little while for the turbo to get active as well. It can make the plunge into a busy roundabout a tense adventure into the unknown.

The ZF auto does a great job most of the time extracting maximum from the engine without being obvious. However, it lacks grade shift stabilisation, which means at a steady state such as 80km/h on a climb it will cycle rapid-fire between multiple gears.

It’s unbelievably annoying yet easily fixable, as the function would be available within ZF’s software suite.

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As it is, the only way around it is to select a gear in manual mode via the paddles on the steering column and hold it there.

Problems like that would surely have been exposed by local testing of Ute prototypes. Instead, GWM sent engineers here to research driving conditions then incorporated those learnings into the suspension and steering tune.

Fundamentally, they have done a good job. The damping and body control is impressive. The letdown is an underlying and ever-present jitteriness. Both the front-end and rear-end also respond loudly and obviously to big hits.

The steering set-up is quite light at low speed, which is good for round-town work and off-road work. The large turning circle is less helpful.

As the pace rises the steering heavies and slow gearing means a lot of work on the wheel. 

Complicating that, lane keep assist input can be reduced but not turned off. It’s an intrusive system and not finely tuned, which means you end up fighting the steering and eventually get sick and tired of it. It also reverts to full strength interference every time the ignition is switched on.

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That intrusiveness is such a pity because working in combination with Cooper Discoverer HTS 255/60R18 tyres, the actual steering feel is good and the response to inputs prompt. Punting the Ute along a winding road is a satisfyingly controllable experience.

On dry bitumen it’s fine to leave the Ute in 4x2, saving 4x4 for the greasy stuff. In low range, the rear diff locked up automatically and made nasty gear-graunching noises when slowly cornering. Not good.

Otherwise our brief off-road experiments went without drama. The GWM Ute was able to crawl up and down slopes, its substantial articulation allowing it to negotiate severe ramps and ruts.

But again, detail tuning of the stability control system took the gloss off. On rutted bitumen or dirt corners as wheels moved around a bit the stability and traction control systems would intervene and unnecessarily clamp wheels. When braking on rough surfaces the system was fooled into thinking it was undergoing a panic stop and the blinkers would start flashing.

The Ute’s interior looks modern by ute standards. Its surfaces are hard to the touch, but that’s not unusual in this segment. There is plentiful storage and space, especially for adults in the rear seat. The bench flips up to reveal under-seat storage and the backrest also folds down.

But the front seats are pretty flat and the driver’s left footrest sits at an odd inward angle. I also found the manual gear-change paddles too far inboard to reach with my short fingers. Add in that lack of steering column reach and it can be a struggle to get comfortable.

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The touch-screen didn’t always respond to finger prodding and smeared quite noticeably. Select reverse and Chinese writing appears on the screen. One time, the radio came on and wouldn’t switch off until another gear was selected. Link to the Ute via Bluetooth and the rejected ‘Poer’ name comes up on your phone.

When the adaptive cruise control was activated, its graphics appeared in the digital readout between the analogue speedo and tacho gauges. Cycling back to the trip computer and digital speedo was a hit-and-miss affair. Sometimes a press of the button would achieve the change, sometimes it didn’t.

All little things maybe, but annoying. They act as a reminder how good the best brands are at making the driving experience seamless and intuitive. 

The verdict

Be it the bluff and bold exterior, the interior design and presentation or the drive experience, the 2021 GWM Ute Cannon-L is light years ahead of anything that’s come before it from China.

That doesn’t mean it jumps to the top of our 4x4 dual-cab favourites list. But next time we’re assembling contenders for a comparison test, the GWM definitely deserves to be included.

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Yes, there are rough edges and there is a need for some fine-tuning. Also worth noting this first review was only based on a couple of days’ driving in which we didn’t have a chance to carry a load or tow. We also have no clue about long-term quality and durability.

So there are provisos to our conclusions.

In the end I came to think of the Cannon-L as about 80 per cent as good as a Ford Ranger pitched at about 60 per cent of the price. That’s surely going to get a lot of people into GWM showrooms.

And surely it’s also going to give the established pick-up players pause for thought. They’ve made a lot of money with their ever-more expensive utes, but they have also given an emerging giant, both industry and country, an opportunity to capitalise.

Judging by the GWM Ute, it’s an opportunity that won’t be wasted.

How much does the 2021 GWM Ute Cannon-L cost?
Price: $37,990 (drive-away)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 120kW/400Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 9.4L/100km
CO2: 250g/km
Safety rating: Untested

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Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Expert rating
74/100
Price & Equipment
14/20
Safety & Technology
17/20
Powertrain & Performance
14/20
Driving & Comfort
14/20
Editor's Opinion
15/20
Pros
  • The price is right, but so is the equipment level, especially in safety terms
  • The cabin is quiet, the presentation is modern and there is a adult-friendly space in the back
  • Fundamental ride and handling package is good, it's in the details where improvements can be made
Cons
  • The way the auto hunts on hills is unacceptable
  • Question marks over the engine's ability to tow and carry a big load
  • The annoying detail glitches in the cabin that could easily be resolved with some fine-tuning
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