China Goes Tough Market Australia: Ford Ranger Raptor Poisoning GWM Cannon Everest Strengthens for Oz

The Great Wall Cannon Everest tops Australia's wishlist.

The most powerful Chinese model to date is solidifying its position in Australia, and the Great Wall Cannon Everest is firmly on the brand's sights in our market.

Although the model has not yet been officially confirmed for Australia, GWM said. Cars Guideit has its eye on the rival Ford Ranger Raptor and Nissan Navara Warrior, with a beefed-up Cannon on the brand's wish list.

“It's fair to say that the Everest Edition of the GWM Ute has been well received by the local team here in Australia,” says GWM Australia & New Zealand Head of Marketing and Communications Steve McIver.

“The advanced design and XNUMXWD capability make it an interesting addition to the GWM Ute lineup.

"Discussions are already underway with our colleagues at headquarters, but it has not yet been decided whether we will see him in Down Under."

Just unveiled at the Chengdu International Auto Show, the GWM Everest is seriously boosting Cannon's off-road capabilities, and the brand is working on everything from the chassis to the wading depth and all-wheel drive system.

We'll get to the outer changes in a bit, but for now let's focus on things under the skin, because there's been a major change.

First, the Everest chassis has been strengthened, allowing a 4300kg winch to be fitted as standard. The automatic 4WD selection system has also been replaced by a system that allows the driver to manually switch between 2H, 4H and 4L functions.

There are also three locking differentials, a snorkel that increases wading depth to 700mm, what looks like new blacked-out wheels, and the installation of a new Off-Road Expert mode that automatically disables driving aids (such as sensors and motion sensors). traction and stability control) to give the driver complete control. There's also a new creep mode and a four-wheel reversal feature.

Elsewhere, the brand's 2.0-litre turbodiesel (120kW and 400Nm) still delivers momentum, and it's mated to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission. It is still 5410mm long, 1934mm high and 1886mm wide, with a wheelbase of 3230mm. As standard, it will offer approach, exit and ramp angles of 27 degrees, 25 degrees and 21.1 degrees respectively, although these figures have yet to be updated for Everest.