{"id":516419,"date":"2026-03-03T17:40:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516419\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T17:40:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:40:40","slug":"gwm-australia-plans-new-model-onslaught-says-2026-will-be-its-most-ambitious-year-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/516419\/","title":{"rendered":"GWM Australia plans new model onslaught, says 2026 will be its \u201cmost ambitious year yet\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

GWM Australia has big plans for 2026 on the back of its best sales year ever in 2025, with 10 new or refreshed models now confirmed for launch and more dealerships opening around the country.<\/p>\n

The company announced last year<\/a> it wanted to become a top-five auto brand in Australia, and confirmed a raft of new models including its first from Great Wall Motor\u2019s premium Wey brand.<\/p>\n

Now, it has shed some further light on its future product plans, with GWM locking in various models from its range of brands in China \u2013 all of which are treated as sub-brands and sold under the same GWM banner in Australia \u2013 including passenger cars, SUVs and utes.<\/p>\n

CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here<\/a> to get a great deal.<\/p>\n

\"GWMGWM Tank 500<\/p>\n

While it plans to continue to expand its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) lineup and finally introduce more electric vehicles (EVs), GWM isn\u2019t forgetting about pure combustion power either.<\/p>\n

GWM\u2019s new 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel powertrain will make its global debut in Australia, where it will become available under the bonnet of the Cannon Alpha<\/a> ute and Tank 500<\/a> large off-road SUV.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s set to offer more power and torque than GWM\u2019s largest turbo-diesel at present, the 2.4-litre found in the Cannon<\/a>, Cannon Alpha and Tank 300<\/a>, which produces 135kW of power and 480Nm of torque.<\/p>\n

\"GWMGWM Cannon Hi4-T<\/p>\n

The slightly smaller Cannon ute and Tank 300 off-road SUV will follow their larger siblings in adopting plug-in hybrid power, with the Tank 300 Hi4-T PHEV arriving in April and the Cannon Hi4-T<\/a> due on sale here in mid-2026.<\/p>\n

Also due this year is the Haval Jolion Max mid-size SUV, which will be offered with either PHEV or EV powertrains \u2013 making it GWM\u2019s first Haval-badged EV.<\/p>\n

Despite having a similar name to GWM\u2019s current entry-level model, the Haval Jolion<\/a> small SUV, the Jolion Max is a larger vehicle.<\/p>\n

\"GWMGWM Ora 5<\/p>\n

GWM\u2019s slow-selling Ora electric hatch will be joined by \u201cat least\u201d two other models from the Ora brand, and the company today also confirmed it\u2019s \u201cpotentially introducing PHEV technology to the Ora range\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Ora brand in China has only ever offered EVs.<\/p>\n

One of these new Ora models is expected to be the Ora 5 mid-size SUV, while GWM\u2019s reference to launching new passenger vehicles could suggest the Ora Sport<\/a> will finally come here. <\/p>\n

GWM brought an example of the electric sedan to Australia in 2024 for local media to test, and it has subsequently been joined on the Chinese market by a wagon version.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Finally, GWM Australia plans to launch Wey as a sub-brand in the second half of 2026, and its debut model is set to be a luxurious people mover known in other markets as the 80, G9 or Gaoshan.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t just GWM\u2019s lineup that\u2019s expanding, with its dealer network also set to grow.<\/p>\n

GWM is targeting a 10 per cent increase in its network, bringing the total number of dealers nationwide from 123 to 135 by the end of this year. That includes a new flagship dealership in Rockingham, Western Australia that will set a new benchmark for the look, feel and service experience offered by GWM\u2019s dealers.<\/p>\n

\"HavalHaval Xiaolong (set to be GWM Haval Jolion Max)<\/p>\n

The company has also confirmed it has increased its staff numbers by 20 per cent, and appointed new heads for customer experience and parts and logistics, among other roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cProduct is only one element of success. Expanded dealer network coverage, enhanced aftersales support, improved parts availability and comprehensive technical training will form the core foundations of our pursuit of a top five position. These are non-negotiable,\u201d said GWM ANZ chief operating officer John Kett.<\/p>\n

GWM notched up 52,809 deliveries last year in Australia, its highest tally yet. The brand placed seventh overall, making it the best-selling Chinese brand Down Under in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"GWMGWM Cannon Alpha PHEV<\/p>\n

It\u2019s planning to deliver more than 60,000 vehicles this year and, by 2027, GWM wants to increase its market share from 4.3 to 7.0 per cent.<\/p>\n

Based on the size of the Australian new-car market last year, that\u2019s around 87,000 sales, which would put it in the top five. Had it delivered that many vehicles last year, it would have been beaten by only Toyota, Ford and Mazda.<\/p>\n

However, Mr Kett confirmed last week that GWM is aspiring for annual sales volume of around 75,000 units in the coming years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t making any outlandish statements of 100,000 [sales] and our premium brand will be 10,000. We just want to get to 75,000 \u2013 so we set ourselves a target of a \u20186\u2019 in front of our volume number this year, and we\u2019ve got 20,000 ideas to get there,\u201d he told Australian media.<\/p>\n

\"GWMGWM Haval H6<\/p>\n

\u201cOur benefit is we\u2019re across all fuel types. Our nemesis is we don\u2019t quite have the BYD story or the Geely story, because we\u2019re not that one-dimensional.\u201d<\/p>\n

GWM says it\u2019s entering \u201cits next growth phase with a robust pipeline designed to challenge established players and reset expectations in the Australian automotive landscape\u201d.<\/p>\n

The brand now has a range of small, medium and large SUVs; two different utes; and one passenger car. It also offers petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019ll have to contend with not only more established players from Japan and Korea, but also surging Chinese automakers.<\/p>\n

\"GWMGWM Tank 300 Hi4-T<\/p>\n

BYD was just 394 deliveries behind GWM last year, and is rolling out a raft of new models itself, including Australia\u2019s cheapest EV, the Atto 1 hatch.<\/p>\n

It also has small and mid-size electric SUVs, a mid-size electric sedan, and a large, three-row plug-in hybrid SUV, for which GWM presently has no answer.<\/p>\n

Chery is also rising rapidly in Australia and wants to become a top-five brand here, with its sister brand Omoda Jaecoo also expected to be in the top 10. MG has also previously announced goals of becoming a top-five brand by 2027, and in the top three by 2030.<\/p>\n

MORE: GWM: We\u2019re not \u201cone-dimensional\u201d like BYD or Geely<\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: Explore the GWM showroom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GWM Australia has big plans for 2026 on the back of its best sales year ever in 2025,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-516419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}