GWM Cannon 2025 review

The stagnant ute segment received quite the shake-up when the GWM Ute, as it was then known, entered the market in 2021.

We’d seen cheap utes such as the LDV T60 and the Mahindra Pik-Up before and the Cannon, as it would come to be known, was certainly that.

Its $35,490 driveaway entry price was nothing short of breathtaking, and the GWM soon set about distancing itself from its affordable if arguably undesirable rivals.

Safety? Nothing less than five stars were given by ANCAP that year. Capable? Headline figures weren’t brag worthy but the ute was good enough. And, fancy? The interior of the GWM offered impressive levels of luxury for the price, even if the execution was left wanting.

Chasing Cars took a GWM Cannon into our long-term fleet in 2021 and found it held up well after a brutal six months and 10,000km-plus of testing, which included tow testing, and a thrash through the Australian Outback alongside proven rivals in the Toyota Hilux and Isuzu D-Max.

A perfect vehicle it was not but, thankfully, many of the changes flagged in that review have been addressed in this latest facelift.

The 2.0L turbo-diesel four-cylinder, producing a meagre 120kW and 400Nm, has been swapped out for the 2.4L turbo-diesel in the pricier Cannon Alpha with a more respectable 135kW and 480Nm.

Those numbers aren’t segment-leading but they aren’t far off the two mainstream rivals GWM has in its sights: the 150kW/470Nm Mitsubishi Triton and 140kW/450Nm Nissan Navara.

A more affordable cab-chassis option still using the old 2.0L unit is said to join the lineup in time but for this first look we only sampled the dual-cab ute range.

GWM’s Cannon also now boasts a 3500kg towing capacity, matching rivals, and insists it has done a proper job strengthening and stabilising the chassis and suspension to suit.

Interestingly, the GWM’s chief rival in the T60 also broke news this week that its towing had been enhanced up to 3500kg showing the importance of the segment benchmark figure.

Other changes include a considerably more modern, and less in-your-face, overall design; with GWM staff not hiding their disdain for the excessive use of chrome on the pre-facelift design, which has been replaced with darker colouring on the grille and elsewhere.

What are the Cannon’s features and options for the price?

Currently available only as a 4×4, the Cannon range kicks off with the Lux grade with a price of $40,490 driveaway that includes the following features:

• 18-inch alloys
• Rear locking differential
• LED headlights
• Side steps
• Damped tailgate
• Synthetic leather seats 
• Six-way power adjustable driver’s seat
• Four-way manual adjustable passenger seat
• Wireless phone charger
• Singe-zone climate control
• 7.0-inch digital gauge cluster
• 12.3-inch multimedia screen
• Wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto
• Six-speaker stereo
• Automatic rain-sensing wipers

Stepping up to the Ultra grade at $43,490 driveaway adds:

• Sunroof
• Rear privacy glass
• Tailgate step
• Leather accented seats w/ heating and ventilation
• Heated steering wheel
• Four-way power adjustment for front passenger 
• Ambient lighting
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• 360-degree camera
• Front parking sensors

The Vanta is essentially a styling pack for the Ultra and adds black 18-inch alloy wheels, a sports bar and black accents for the grille, wheel arches, mirrors and door handles for $45,490 driveaway.

Finally, the hard-core XSR off-road grade ditches the on-demand 4×4 system for a part-time setup, but gains the following extras with a price of $49,990 driveaway:

• Front locking differential
• Snorkel
• Additional off-road driving modes
• Metal side steps
• Unique grille

How does the Cannon drive?

Price considered, there wasn’t a whole lot fundamentally wrong with the way the pre-facelifted Cannon drives.

But the overly soft demeanour, a somewhat unsettled ride and front suspension that was prone to slam on its bump stops in rougher conditions, left some obvious room for improvement.

GWM says it has taken the criticism from local press and its customers seriously and flew in a team from China that spent months reworking the suspension and chassis to not only handle a class-standard 3.5-tonne towing capacity but also make it drive better every day.

The end result isn’t a game-changer for the Cannon; the ride now seems far too firm with lots of classic ute judders and big compressions at high-speed aren’t dealt with appropriately.

On one occasion during our test drive, the Cannon failed to absorb a medium-grade pothole mid-corner, excessively rebounded and washed the front out wide on a bend beyond the centre line.

The Cannon does have a more decisive front end and is generally more dynamic at speed than the pre-facelift, and we do have to reserve some judgment until we drive the ute properly laden with accessories and cargo on board.

Going forward, the brand says it will introduce a local ride and handling team to fine tune its vehicles to our conditions and this is good news for local buyers.

The 2.4L turbo-diesel is a step in the right direction, with 135kW at 3600rpm and 480Nm between 1500 and 2500rpm and the nine-speed automatic offers an extra ratio over the outgoing 2.0L and eight-speed combo.

At speed, the 2.4L turbo is a notable improvement, with the oiler motivating the 2230kg weight convincingly at urban to highway speeds; though the throttle is far too sensitive off the line.

The jerky behaviour left my noggin slapping against the headrest and hand against my forehead; why is the more brawny powertrain so sensitive when it now has more grunt up its sleeve?

Although the GWM has an on-demand 4×4 system, which negates much of the reason to have a dedicated four-high mode, the jerky behaviour makes precise low-speed 4x4ing difficult so low range is advised.

Once in said gearing, the traction control puts in a solid performance and with a rear locker as standard and a front locker available on the top-spec XSR, the Cannon is a strong performer in this area right out the box.

Some improvements could be made, such as the below-class average 500mm wading depth (700mm on XSR), the ride is quite punishing in deep ruts and the lazy on-demand 4×4 system is simply no match for permanent 4×4 systems, like that found in the pricier Mitsubishi Triton, on high-speed dirt roads.

We didn’t have an opportunity to sample the 3.5-tonne towing ability at launch but the healthy payload of 995kg on most grades and disc brakes all-round give us a glimmer of hope for its performance here.

What is the Cannon’s interior and tech like?

An updated interior design with a ‘cleaner and more straight-forward approach’ typically pricks up the ears of cynics like myself who see the words as a warning sign of a cheaper-to-make and less functional cabin.

While a slight shift away from buttons may have hampered usability for some, GWM has made great strides in making the Cannon’s cabin a more modern and premium-feeling place without major drawbacks elsewhere.

The 12.3-inch multimedia display is bright, relatively quick to respond and paired with a few physical buttons that can at least prompt functions like multimedia or climate control onto the main screen where the task can then be completed.

Standard across the range, this media unit also runs wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; building on other equipment in the Ultra we tested such as heated/ventilated seats, a heated steering wheel, power adjustment for both front seats and a sunroof.

These are the sort of features that are either entirely not available on rivals, or are reserved for higher trims.

Less impressive is the 7.0-inch digital driver’s display that struggled to convey some non-speed related information on its otter edges on a bright sunny day. This made it difficult, for example, to spot when hill descent control was engaged.

The Ultra’s sunroof also failed to stay closed and crept open during both spirited on-roading driving and rough off-road duties.

There are some nice touchpoints across the cabin, along with an eye-catching and engaging new shifter design but the synthetic leather steering wheel stands out as feeling particularly cheap to the touch.

GWM still has some room for improvement in terms of basic ergonomics, with the rear shape of the fat steering wheel lacking any sort of indentation to rest your fingers at the nine and three positions, leaving the driver with a sort of ‘crab claw’ hold.

The leather-accented seats feel nicer to touch and are generally supportive, with helpful features like lumbar adjustment to assist with comfort on longer drives.

Row two is helpfully dotted with USB A and C points along with rear air vents to keep occupants happy, with enough space to accommodate this 182cm tall adult behind my own driving position.

Features like the built-in step that pops out the tailgate are also a handy party trick, and seem to handle the 100kg heft of your reviewer without much fuss.

Is the Cannon a safe car?

The facelifted GWM Cannon carries over the five-star ANCAP score date-stamped from 2021, though keep in mind that rivals tested more recently will have been subjected to more stringent testing to earn the same award.

The following sub-scores awarded during the test are decent but not class-leading.

• 86% – Adult occupant protection
• 87% – Child occupant protection
• 67% – Vulnerable road user protection
• 73% – Safety assistance

Notably, cab-chassis and the XSR grade are excluded from this rating due to differences and/or an absence of some safety equipment.

GWM’s team says it has improved the calibration of driver assistance technologies as part of the facelift but a full assessment of these efforts will need to wait until we have the car back in for more extensive testing.

That said, the lane keep assist stood out as being prone to error, with the sensors generally misguided as to how central the ute was in the lane. 

Standard safety features include adaptive cruise control, seven airbags, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, advanced forwards AEB and tyre pressure monitoring.

What are the Cannon’s ownership costs?

GWM offers a competitive seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty on the Cannon though this is notably short of conditional deals offered by Mitsubishi and Nissan.

Five years of capped price servicing and roadside assistance are also thrown in, with the former now costing $2065 over the period following a small increase for 2025 models.

Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 10,000km, after the initial service at six months or 5000km has passed.

The combined fuel consumption claim is 8.4L/100km; offering a notable improvement over the 9.4L/100km for the old 2.0L turbo-diesel engine, despite the additional power.

The honest verdict on the Cannon

If busting into a complacent market was the Cannon’s role in 2021 then evolving into a more well-rounded and complete ute is its assignment for 2025.

Prices have crept up sure, but they came from a very low base, and the Cannon still offers strong value across its range and the additional value gained by this latest facelift seem to more than justify the bump.

It’s still a far cry from the best in this segment, and a few in the middle, but ute buyers exploring this segment owe it to themselves to at least take the Cannon for a test drive to see how much their extra dollar is really getting them elsewhere in the market.