Great Wall Motors could be the first brand to offer an all-electric ute in Australia, beating US EV-makers Tesla and Rivian, and the homegrown ACE Yewt.
The Chinese ute-maker’s Australian arm has confirmed its replacement for the Great Wall Steed, to be revealed at the Shanghai motor show on April 16, will become available with a pure-electric powertrain offering a driving range of 500km.
Furthermore, HAVAL and Great Wall Motors Australia and New Zealand believes Aussies are ready for a battery-powered dual-cab 4x4 ute and it hopes to release the ground-breaking pick-up Down Under in due course.
For now, of more interest to more Australians – and the brands behind popular established twin-cabs like the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi Triton – is this tough-looking ‘Adventure’ version of the all-new GWM ute designed specifically for Australia, where it goes on sale late next year.
To be positioned alongside an ‘urban’ variant and the EV, the GWM Adventure ute adopts Great Wall’s new ‘tough truck’ design direction by incorporating a big black single-bar grille, LED headlights and tail-lights, carbon black wheel-arches, extended rear sports bar and a tailgate “specially designed for off-road bike enthusiasts”.
As evidenced by these first images, Great Wall says key mechanical extras increasing its off-road credentials include a built-in front winch, substantial front and rear recovery hooks, mud-terrain tyres, roof rails, tubular side steps, rear bumper step and a snorkel.
Combined with a rugged ladder frame shared with the next-generation Haval H9 full-size SUV, triple diff locks and a seven-mode All Terrain Control System, GWM says the unnamed ute will deliver segment-leading 4WD capabilities including a huge 900mm fording depth. So presumably ground clearance will also advance from the existing Great Wall Steed ute’s paltry 177mm.
Powertrain details are yet to be revealed, but a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel shared with the next H9 and outputting at least 140kW/450Nm will be a big improvement on the Steed’s 110kW/320Nm 2.0-litre engine.
It will be matched with a six-speed manual gearbox and, for the first time in a GWM ute, an (eight-speed) automatic transmission, while a hybrid powertrain may also be offered.
The bigger new 2020 GWM 4x4 dual-cab, which should also come with a long warranty and advanced safety features, will also be produced in single-cab and long-wheelbase forms alongside the next H9 at Great Wall’s new billion-dollar Chongqing plant.
GWM says it is aiming for a five-star ANCAP safety rating, which would be a big step up from the existing Great Wall Steed’s sub-par two-star result, and therefore autonomous emergency braking (AEB) will be required.
As revealed in an official design sketch that surfaced last year, the new Great Wall ute will at least be available with forward collision warning (FCW), automatic cruise control (ACC) and a tow capacity of at least 3000kg.
That would be well up on the below-average 2000kg tow capacity of the 2002 RA Isuzu D-MAX based GWM Steed, which was launched in April 2016 as a facelifted and renamed version of the V-series ute that debuted in Australia in 2009, but less than the 3500kg offered by class-leaders.
Production of the all-new GWM ute – which won’t be called the Steed in Australia -- will begin in China around September, before it arrives Down Under in the fourth quarter of next year.