2027 GWM Cannon Alpha 3.0TD review

The brand arrived Down Under under its ‘Great Wall’ guise with the fish-like V240, which achieved surprising popularity in the fleet market. Then there was, of course, the Steed, which achieved notoriety for all the wrong reasons thanks to a rough day at the office with ANCAP.

GWM has taken huge leaps forward as a brand since those days, although that’s not to say its pathway has been completely linear.

Take the GWM Cannon Alpha , for example. When the larger dual-cab ute was first launched here in mid-2024, its 2.4-litre turbo-diesel was clearly a bit of an afterthought, with the 2.0-litre petrol-electric hybrid version hogging almost all of the nameplate’s marketing attention. GWM then added a plug-in hybrid version last year, angling to serve the growing number of ute customers interested in electrification.

Now, the brand has sort of gone full circle. In its own words, 86 per cent of utes sold in Australia are powered by diesel. So, it set about producing an all-new 3.0-litre diesel engine for both the Cannon Alpha and the Tank 500 large SUV – an engine that could be properly competitive with the best in the biz. And that engine has just touched down in local showrooms.

GWM expects this 3.0-litre to be a serious seller. And having squeezed class-leading torque and fuel economy from the unit, it clearly means business. We travelled to the launch of the new Cannon Alpha Vanta in Melbourne to see whether the 3.0-litre’s hype is justified.

The 2026 GWM Cannon Alpha 3.0TD is available in two grades, with the Lux priced from $58,990 drive-away and the Vanta flagship from $63,990 drive-away. Premium paint adds $595.

That makes the Vanta $5000 more expensive than the Lux, but it brings a front differential lock, black exterior details, 19-inch alloy wheels, a dual-action tailgate, and a power sliding rear window. It also adds more luxury inside, including leather-accented upholstery, heated, ventilated and massaging front seats, a head-up display, and a 10-speaker sound system.

On paper, that is strong value for a dual-cab ute with 170kW of power, 620Nm of torque, a 3500kg braked towing capacity, and a long equipment list. The Cannon Alpha substantially undercuts flagship versions of the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max, particularly when you compare GWM’s national drive-away prices with the list prices (before on-road costs) of its rivals.

At the time of writing, GWM is also offering buyers of either 3.0TD variant the choice of a $2000 cash bonus or a $2000 fuel card for a limited time.

To see how the GWM Cannon Alpha lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

Those familiar with our previous reporting on the Cannon Alpha will know that we're pretty big fans of what it offers, particularly in terms of space. The dimensional difference between one of these and the ute mainstream is almost entirely reflected in the big GWM’s wheelbase, meaning its back seat is super-commodious.

It hosts similar amounts of headroom and legroom to the likes of the MG U9 and Foton Tunland, and considerably more legroom than you get in a Ranger. Not only is it a lot more spacious back there, it's also very comfortable.