New 3.0L GWM Cannon Alpha diesel gets a sharp price tag

GWM has confirmed its all-new 3.0-litre turbo-diesel Cannon Alpha will roll into Australian showrooms in September, priced from less than $60,000 drive-away and pitched squarely at the entrenched utes from Ford and Toyota. Australia leads the global debut of GWM’s all-new 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel and is a key reason it exists at all, with GWM developing the oil-burner from scratch with this market front-of-mind.

GWM is talking a big game for its new 3.0-litre turbo-diesel Cannon Alpha ute, which will replace the smaller 2.4-litre oiler almost imminently.

The all-new four-cylinder mill offers more torque than a Ford Ranger V6 (620Nm vs 600Nm) but can't match the extra kilowatts afforded by two additional cylinders (170kW vs 184kW).

Perhaps more importantly, it easily out-muscles the 500Nm Toyota HiLux, 470Nm Mitsubishi Triton and 450Nm Isuzu D-MAX, while a claimed fuel use of just 7.3L/100km betters the lot – Ford included.

It's also the only ute in the pack with both front and rear diff locks and will be priced from under $60,000 drive-away for the base Lux variant – the flagship Vanta is expected to add around $7000 to the drive-away price, give or take.

GWM developed the new mill from the ground up, with the Aussie market identified as the primary target, and as such, was where the bulk of validation testing was carried out.

"This is a super important engine for this market," GWM head of marketing and communications Steve Maciver said.

Despite the sales surge around EVs and hybrids, diesel-powered vehicles still account for around one in five of all cars sold in Australia.

"There's still a huge amount of customers looking for diesel," Maciver added.

Under the bonnet, the engine leans on a suite of clever hardware to deliver its low-rev muscle.

A water-cooled intercooler drops intake temperatures for more consistent performance when towing or working in the heat, while shorter intake piping sharpens throttle response and cuts lag.

The latest-generation Bosch common-rail fuel injection system and an electronically controlled viscous fan round out the package, helping the 3.0-litre serve up peak torque low in the rev range and hold it there.

According to the data supplied by GWM, the new engine’s peak torque of 620Nm arrives at a very low 1400rpm and is sustained until 2400rpm before it drops off.

The Cannon Alpha 3.0TD’s suspension and steering have been reworked under the guidance of Rob Trubiani, the former Holden ride-and-handling wizard who now leads GWM's local Australian-Tuned Driving Dynamics (AT-1) program.

"A lot of the work that is happening here [with locally developed suspension] is going into other markets overseas," Maciver said.

GWM is leaning hard on the luxury angle too.

The pitch, essentially, is that you can blast through a mudhole or climb a mountain with the diffs locked while enjoying a back massage – a combination none of its ladder-frame rivals can match at the price.

Underneath sits proven mechanical 4x4 hardware and a body-on-frame chassis, with GWM claiming 40,000km of local validation across Australia, including Cairns, the Victorian High Country, Flinders Ranges and Big Desert.

The towing cruise control calibration was developed as part of that same local AT-1 program.

"It's had a huge amount of interest," Maciver said of the new engine.

"We only pre-launched that car last Wednesday and we've already had more than 900 expressions of interest."

The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel Cannon Alpha arrives in September, slotting in beneath the existing PHEV variants and giving diesel diehards a sharply-priced alternative to the segment's big hitters.

GWM has already confirmed it's developing a diesel-electric powertrain for its utes and 4WD SUVs, joining its petrol-electric offerings.

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