New Great Wall pick-up to attack Ranger, HiLux

Great Wall Motors has confirmed the next generation of its one-tonne ute will be named Poer (yep no ‘w’) in “international markets” and rolled out a close-to-production battery-electric version at the Beijing auto show.

But neither the name nor the EV powertrain are confirmed for Australia.

Generically referred to as the P-Series pick-up, the new ute is a complete overhaul compared to the Steed currently offered by the Chinese company in Australia.

It is expected to be the most credible ute to come out of China and will face up to a host of new and updated rivals in Australia including the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-MAX.

The P-Series broke cover at the 2019 Shanghai show and again shortly after at the New York show.

Great Wall Motors Australia (GWMA) is pushing to get the P-Series launched in Australia before the end of 2020, although it may fall into 2021.

In the not-too-distant future GWMA is expected to shed more light on the name of the new ute and the range of models it will offer.

Poer is not expected to be the name, nor Power, P-Series, P1, Cannon or Steed.

The Great Wall Motors brand name could also be contracted to GWM.

This would help ease confusion as Great Wall Motors is the name of both the over-arching company and the ute division, which is now referred to internationally as GWM Pickup.

Other divisions include the SUV specialist Haval that also sells in Australia and the Wey luxury SUV and Ora EV brands that are not on sale here.

As explained in Beijing on Saturday, the Poer name is inspired by both the Chinese character Pao and the English word power. It is also pronounced ‘power’.

GWM says it wants the new ute to be powerful mechanically, but also in terms of its practicality, off-road ability, intelligent connectivity and reliability.

Not a lot of technical detail was offered about the GWM Poer EV. It features a ternary lithium battery and a “global first co-axial integrated electronic drive bridge”. Sorry, not sure about that one.

Claimed e-motor outputs are 150kW and 300Nm and the range is 405km. The latter figure is down on the 500km range announced when the EV was first confirmed in 2019.

At this point carsales understands there is no confirmed program for the Poer EV in Australia, but local management remains keen.

Electrified utes are yet to be a big thing in Australia, although Toyota has hinted there could be a mild-hybrid HiLux as soon as late 2021.

The USA is the hotbed of EV pick-ups thanks to the Tesla Cybertruck and Ford F-150, among many others.

The focus, however, remains on the orthodox 2.0-litre turbo-diesel (120kW/400Nm) model.

GWM recently issued its own 'spy' photos of the P-Series testing in a right-hand drive market and confirmed some key equipment the vehicle will feature including lane keep assist, lane departure warning and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

“Pick-ups are one of the most popular models in global markets as they are widely used in daily work and life,” said GWM International deputy general manager, Tony Sun.

“At a time when emerging technology is reshaping the world and the automobile industry is in a stage of transformation, we believe intelligent technology, connectivity and electrification are the future development trends for pick-up segment.

“As new technologies evolve, we believe this new line-up represents how we reimagine the future of the pickup segment.”