Utes are a hot commodity in this part of the Southern Hemisphere, there’s no surprise about that. Although, the surprising fact is that despite being such a hot segment, the level of competition is actually somewhat thin.
The sales stats don’t lie. The market share is concentrated amongst the big three, those three being, the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi Triton – each having scored 1st, 2nd and 4th in YTD vehicle sales, while others struggle to come close.
A consequence is that several manufacturers have tried and failed to crack into the ute market.
Notable casualties include the Mercedes X-Class, and the Mazda BT-50 which was discontinued this year. Others, such as the SsangYong Rhino, LDV T60 and arguably, the Volkswagen Amarok, are just hanging on.
It would seem that ute market is an unforgiving landscape, and that if a newcomer has any hope of success, it wouldn’t be without a substantial gamble.
Of course, that didn’t deter Chinese automotive juggernaut, Great Wall Motors – or GWM – from joining the fold in 2021 with the GWM Cannon. The Cannon had minor initial success, until recently discontinued. Another causality, perhaps?
Nope.
Instead, GWM said “I’ll raise”, bringing-out the all-new GWM Cannon Alpha, and arriving as the first battery hybrid 3.5-tonne ute available for New Zealand buyers.
The question is, will GWM’s gamble pay off?
What We Like and Dislike About The 2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Swanky interior Extensive equipment list Power and torque Split tailgate Value for money | Engine tune Abysmal throttle response Compromised payload capacity Poor fuel economy |
UPDATE: GWM makes changes/fixes to Cannon Alpha: GWM listens, and fixes issues with Tank 500, Cannon Alpha – DriveLife
What’s In the 2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Range?
There are three variants of the GWM Cannon Alpha available for New Zealand buyers.
| Model | Price |
| Cannon Alpha Lux | $54,990 |
| Cannon Alpha Ultra | $59,990 |
| Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid | $68,990 |
Both the entry-level Lux, and mid-range Ultra, are powered by a 2.4-litre turbodiesel engine, producing 135kW of power and 480Nm of torque.
The top-spec Ultra-Hybrid is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine combined with an electric motor. Individually, the petrol engine produces 180kW of power and 380Nm of torque, while the electric motor produces 78kW and 268Nm. Combined, the Ultra-Hybrid produces 255kW and 648Nm.
All Cannon Alpha’s are 4WD, and utilise a 9-speed automatic gearbox.
There are five standard colours available for the GWM Cannon Alpha:
- Lunar Red
- Crystal Black
- Onyx Silver
- Marble White
- Storm Grey
For more information on GWM Cannon Alpha, check out the GWM New Zealand/Australia website.
How Does The 2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid Compare To Its Competition?
GWM is the first brand to offer a battery hybrid ute for New Zealand buyers. Below are some of your alternative ute choices.
| Make/Model | Engine | Power/Torque (kW/Nm) | Fuel (L/100km) | Towing capacity (Kg) | Price |
| Volkswagen Amarok Aventura TSI | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol | 222/452 | 10.8 | 750/3500 | $96,000 |
| Volkswagen Amarok Aventura TDI | 3.0-litre 6-cylinder turbodiesel | 184/600 | 9.6 | 750/3500 | $96,000 |
| Ford Ranger Wildtrak V6 | 3.0-litre 6-cylinder turbodiesel | 184/600 | 8.4 | 750/3500 | $88,490 |
| Ford Ranger Wildtrak | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 150/500 | 7.6 | 750/3500 | $76,990 |
| Toyota Hilux GR Sport | 2.8-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel mild hybrid | 165/550 | 9.3 | 750/3500 | $75,490 |
| GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol hybrid | 255/648 | 9.8 | 750/3500 | $68,990 |
| Isuzu D-MAX X-Terrain | 3.0-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel | 140/450 | 9.2 | 750/3500 | $67,990 |
| Toyota Hilux SR5 Cruiser | 2.8-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel mild hybrid | 150/500 | 8.7 | 750/3500 | $65,490 |
| GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra | 2.4L 4-cylinder turbodiesel | 135/480 | 8.9 | 750/3500 | $59,990 |
| Nissan Navara Pro-4X | 2.3-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 140/450 | 7.6 | 750/3,500 | $59,990 |
| Mitsubishi Triton VRX | 2.4-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 150/470 | 8.8 | 750/3500 | $59,990 |
First Impressions Of The 2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid
Chinese auto manufacturers seem to have a precarious relationship with exterior design. Sure, they’ve made leaps and bounds in the last decade, but it seems that many still haven’t fully grasped it yet.
Usually something would always be slightly off, and as a result, it would make you question the perceived quality. The GWM Cannon-L suffered from this. It was an inoffensive design, but a couple of strange proportions remained.
The Cannon Alpha is possibly the first GWM, or Chinese vehicle generally, to achieve a design that’s fully cohesive.
Dimensionally, the Cannon Alpha is imposing. It’s bigger than most of its Ute competition, but smaller than a full-fat American truck. The exterior is well-sculpted, and there’s no weird proportions or awkward angles. Admittedly, there are a couple of design features which appear to be “inspired” by a Ute wearing a blue oval. For example, the headlight silhouette is not too dissimilar to an F-150 Raptor, and the rear window kink shares its shape with the Ranger.
Regardless, the Cannon Alpha is tough in its appearance and has proper road presence.
What’s The Interior Like In The 2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid?
Imagine if you’d managed to go back in time to about a decade ago, and you’d found yourself telling your workmates that in 2024, you could buy a ute that was equipped with as many features as a luxury car. Then, told them that it wasn’t made by Toyota, Ford, or even Volkswagen, but instead, from a Chinese manufacturer? You’d probably have been laughed off the job site.
Heck, even said today, you’d probably still get a few sceptical looks.
The fact of the matter is, the GWM Cannon Alpha probably has the poshest interior of any ute available right now.
A glance at the spec sheet will tell you everything you need to know. In Ultra spec, the Cannon Alpha has a massive 12’’ infotainment screen, a digital dash cluster, heads-up display, CarPlay, Android Auto, heated and ventilated seats, a heated steering wheel and a gazillion exterior cameras. Heck, it even has massaging seats in the front, which is a feature I’ve only experienced in vehicles wearing a German badge and a six-figure price tag.
GWM hasn’t underbaked these accessories either. The infotainment, for example, has high-resolution, is responsive and is (mostly) simple to operate. Frankly, this infotainment is considerably better than those found in the Hilux, Triton or D-Max. The Ford Ranger or the Volkswagen Amarok come close, but even then, GWM has the edge.
The exterior cameras are all high-resolution, and as mentioned, there are many of them. The digital instrument cluster is also crystal-clear, albeit there’s not a lot of configurability to it.
Even the rear seats have more equipment than most cars. The GWM has electronically reclining, heated and ventilated seats for the rear outboard passengers, and there’s even a second wireless charger on the centre armrest, which is a first for any Ute. Heck, you’d be lucky to get a cupholder in some of the competition.
The build quality stands up too. Nothing feels flimsy, or poorly assembled. Out-of-the-box, the material quality also appears to be decent, but being a fresh-faced contender, we’ve yet to see one with 150,000kms or more on the clock.
By now, some of you might have noticed that the Cannon Alpha shares much of its cabin with GWM’s own Tank 500. Essentially, it’s a carbon copy of the Tank 500. In other words, this Ute really is an SUV on the inside.
By the same token, it’s probably accurate to say that this interior wouldn’t be expected to be as hardy as that of a Hilux or a Ranger.
Sure, many utes are going for the “SUV-like” interior, but their design generally retains a degree of bash-ability, for those that might actually use it as a work vehicle. The GWM, on the other hand, you’d probably be somewhat hesitant about getting the cabin dirty.
Still, I wouldn’t count this against the GWM. Instead, consider the Cannon Alpha better positioned for the lifestyle or corporate buyer, as opposed to those in the trades.
Furthering that point, the rear tray payload is 735kg, which is approximately 200kg less than the segment leaders. Despite the GWM’s large exterior dimensions, the tray length is actually marginally shorter than the competition. The tray length is 1500mm, 1520mm at its widest, and 1110mm between the arches.
So, the Cannon Alpha mightn’t have the payload and the practicality of the competition, but it does have some clever features which the others haven’t thought of.
The first, and the obvious, is its nifty split 60:40 tailgate. It’s incredibly useful for accessing items in the tray, because the tailgate doesn’t get in the way when reaching into the tray.
The second, and less obvious, are the high-output LED flood lights, which are situated up alongside the rear brake light. They’re highly effective at illuminating the tray at night. Admittedly, I might have sworn when I unexpectedly discovered them – they’re that bright.
I should also mention that there are a few design elements in this interior which I believe I’ve seen elsewhere.
The switchgear, for example, is quite Mercedes-like in places. There are several bits of software that also appear to have been spoofed from BMW. In particular, the exterior camera submenus are quite similar, as is the sat-nav display on the instrument cluster. There’s even a “reversing assistant”, (software which remembers how you drove into a carpark and “replays” it backwards), which until now, has been proprietary to BMW.
Of course, the cynical amongst us will point out that China has traditionally held a fairly lax stance towards intellectual property rights. However, that person ought to know that GWM and BMW have a joint partnership in China. So, perhaps it is all above board?
Anyway, whatever side you stand on, the fact remains, the GWM Cannon Alpha is equipped to the nines. The only outstanding question is why the competition costs so much in comparison?
What’s The 2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid Like To Drive?
Between the 1980’s and the early-2010’s, America was the unchallenged juggernaut of the car market. For this period, America dominated in terms of demand for new vehicles, and accordingly, the American consumer arguably had the most influence on shaping the design direction of modern cars. If there was something the American consumer wanted, any canny manufacturer would likely offer it.
During the same period, China was on another end of the spectrum. The majority of Chinese consumers hadn’t owned a car, yet alone, a vehicle. This makes the phenomenon, which is the Chinese automotive sector, only more impressive.
In little over a decade, the Chinese automotive sector has exploded, with buyers hoovering up cars at a rate which made China the largest automotive market globally. It’s not just consumer demand, either, with Chinese domestic OEMs also rapidly growing. Those same OEMs that were once a laughingstock, are now catching, and are even beating some legacy manufacturers. Frankly, the pace of this change has been staggering.
More to the point, China is a new, big and influential player in the automotive market and with any new market, comes new requirements, tastes and preferences.
This could explain some of the choices underpinning the GWM Cannon Alpha, from its massive grille, its abundantly equipped interior and the vast number of cameras stuck on the outside.
So, what are some of those requirements?
In China, their road networks are dominated by highways, which are expansive and congested. A feature-rich cabin certainly makes spending time in traffic more pleasant. The population is dense, and parking is strictly limited. So, exterior cameras can help with navigating tight quarters. In certain cities, you’re not allowed to drive a combustion car, and if you are, it’s usually only for certain days. Electrification, is therefore, the sensible choice.
In short, the consumer wants a big, electrified, feature-rich vehicle, which is good value for money. That is the GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra – Hybrid, to a tee.
Starting underneath, the GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra-Hybrid’s powertrain consists of a 2.0L 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine producing 180kW of power and 380Nm of torque, accompanied by an electric motor producing 78kW and 268Nm.
Together, their combined outputs are 255kW of power and 648Nm of torque.
On paper, the GWM would seemingly dust the competition in a sprint. The Ultra-Hybrid has 71kW more power and 48Nm more torque than the V6 turbodiesel that can be had in the Ford Ranger Wildtrak. Combined outputs don’t always tell the whole story, however.
Off the line, the GWM boogies better than many other utes in the segment. The electric motor provides an initial boost of torque, before the turbocharged 4-cylinder takes over, carrying the Cannon Alpha strongly through the mid-range. Interestingly, the low-to-mid range is where the GWM’s performance lies, and it’s not as strong at the top end, which seems counter-intuitive given its petrol powertrain.
One factor might be the weight. Utes aren’t particularly light to begin with, and the GWM isn’t an exception. For example, our test vehicle is pushing a kerb weight of 2.6-tonnes – around 150kg heavier than the V6 Ranger Wildtrak. It’s not the hybrid drivetrain either, because even in its lightest form (that is, the base model) the Cannon Alpha still weighs a fraction under 2.5 tonnes.
In summary, the Cannon Alpha is brisk. It’ll outrun many other Utes in the segment, but between this and the V6 Ranger, there’s unlikely to be much in it. Anyway, solid straight-line performance is all well and good, but what’s the Cannon Alpha like in the real world?
For starters, I can’t think of any ute which would qualify as a corner carver or be considered generally comfortable. All except a few of them utilise leaf spring suspension, which is great for carrying loads in the tray, but not much else. That said, the Cannon Alpha does have a busy ride. The front springs are firm, and the leaf-sprung rear end means it isn’t particularly pliant on less-than-perfect road surfaces.
The body control is also middling. There’s a few unpleasant secondary motions on faster corners, but it’s no worse than others in the segment. Although, the GWM can’t hold a candle to the Ford Ranger, that has the most sophisticated dynamics in its class.
To GWM’s credit, the cabin is better insulated from road noise and other road harshness compared with other utes.
Off the road, the Cannon Alpha has plenty of equipment to ensure you won’t get stuck. In particular, the Cannon Alpha has two locking differentials, which few in the segment can boast about.
Being a hybrid, you’d probably think the Cannon Alpha would have class-leading fuel economy, particularly amongst its diesel-only competition. I can confirm, GWM does lead the segment in fuel usage.
That’s because it has the worst fuel economy of any 3.5 tonne ute which I’ve tested.
During our test, I achieved the result of 12.9L per 100kms, overshooting GWM’s claimed 9.8L per 100kms by a fair mark.
Keep in mind, our tests involve plenty of highway driving, which doesn’t favour electrified powertrains. That said, it’s a striking result when you compare it against the diesel-only Mitsubishi Triton we tested earlier this year, which we got 9.4L per 100kms out of. To really put this in perspective, the diesel-only variant of the Cannon Alpha actually has a lower combined fuel economy rating of 8.9L per 100kms. Also, emissions aren’t much better either, with the Ultra-Hybrid producing 225 g/km versus the diesel’s 233 g/km.
Fuel economy isn’t the Cannon Alpha’s major pitfall. Instead, the weakest link is actually in the drivetrain calibration.
For example, the Cannon Alpha’s petrol engine would demonstrate a considerable amount of rev-hang, particularly when letting off the throttle after hard acceleration. Also, it would sometimes hesitate between switching the power source (between the petrol and electric motor), and you’d occasionally encounter a small jolt, similar to a rough gear-shift.
Worse still, the low-speed throttle response is abysmal, and in some cases, is borderline dangerous.
If you’re creeping along at low speed, it will seemingly hesitate for a few seconds before it delivers power. The instinctive reaction to this lack of power is to press the pedal harder, which often results in a shocking amount of unexpected forward momentum. It’s not remedied by the drive modes, either.
To provide a real-world example, I had approached a roundabout and made an opportunistic move to proceed before needing to yield to an approaching car, which hadn’t yet made the give way. I had a safe but short window to do so.
Unfortunately, the lack of throttle response as I crept into the roundabout caught me out. The opposing car was already on top of me, and for about two seconds, I’d unintentionally cut them off. Then, the Cannon finally woke up and abruptly shot me towards my intended exit.
Being balanced on the matter, the Cannon doesn’t do this all the time. Regardless, it happened more than once, and it always seemed to be at the worst possible time. This would make me somewhat apprehensive about towing, but we didn’t get the opportunity during our test.
The safety assistance software could also benefit from further calibration. In particular, the lane-keeping assistance software was inconsistent and overeager. It would randomly correct itself at unusual times. On the more amusing side, the driver attention morning system triggered when I burped (but these never work well, in my experience).
That said, some of its competitors are yet to offer some of these features, so I suppose it’s not entirely fair to be too critical of Cannon Alpha. Especially so, when all the core systems, like the adaptive cruise control, are well optimised.
My final comment is not so much a criticism, but rather, a ‘you ought to know’. Because GWM is still establishing its network within New Zealand and Australia, I heard some anecdotes that parts and support aren’t as readily available compared to the likes of Toyota and Ford.
Chinese vehicles also carry some reliability stigmas. Although, we can’t really be sure of this so early on, you ought to know that underneath the bonnet, you will find plenty of parts from reputable brands – such as those from Bosch, Borgwarner and UAES (which has joint partnership with Bosch), and alike. Furthermore, GWM does provide a generous 7-year warranty with the Cannon Alpha when sold new, which will at least underwrite the ownership experience for the first owner.
2024 GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid – Specifications
| Vehicle Type | 4-door dual-cab ute |
| Starting Price | $68,990 |
| Price as Tested | $68,990 |
| Engine | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol hybrid |
| Power, Torque (kW/Nm) | 255/648 |
| Transmission | 9-speed automatic |
| Spare Wheel | Full size |
| Kerb Weight (Kg) | 2,575 |
| Length x Width x Height (mm) | 5445 x 1991 x 1924 |
| Tray Payload (Kg) | 735 |
| Fuel tank capacity, (litres) | 80 |
| Fuel Economy, (L/100km) | Advertised Spec – Combined – 9.8 Real-World Test – Combined – 12.9 Low Usage: 0-6 / Medium Usage 6-12 / High Usage 12+ |
| Towing Capacity (Kg, unbraked/braked) | 750/3500 |
| Turning circle (metres) | 13.0 Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+ |
| Warranty | 7-year/unlimited km new vehicle warranty 8-year unlimited km Battery Pack warranty |
| Safety information | ANCAP Rating – 5 stars Rightcar.govt.nz – 4 Stars – QQN503 |
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