New ‘extra large’ bakkie coming to South Africa – here’s what to expect

The new GWM Shanhai Cannon is coming to South Africa and will be positioned above the popular P-Series as the range-topper.

TopAuto reported that the Cannon will arrive toward the second half of the year, with its starting price currently planned to be “just over R800,000”.

Features

The Cannon’s interior features “leather-like” materials, a 14.6-inch central control screen, a 12.3-inch driver’s instrument cluster, heated, ventilated, and massaging seats, and electronically sliding rear seats.

A suite of assistance systems is aslo included such as:

• Intelligent entering/exiting ramps,
• Lane-change protection,
• Distraction and fatigue monitoring,
• Avoidance of large vehicles, and identification of confusing intersections.

For added versatility, the GWM double cab features a split tailgate that opens downwards like a traditional bakkie, as well as sideways.

Performance

The new double cab is a large vehicle, measuring 5,440mm in length, 1,991mm in width, and 1,924mm in height.

It is slightly bigger in length and width, but shorter in height than the P-Series, which is already a large vehicle by South African standards.

The double cab is currently available with two drivetrains: a 3.0-litre V6 turbocharged petrol engine generating 260kW and 500Nm of torque, and a 2.4-litre turbo-diesel alternative generating 135kW and 480Nm of torque.

Both engines are paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission and a 4×4 system, allowing the vehicle to tow up to 3.3 tonnes.

In the future, hybrid and electric versions of the Shanhai Cannon will also be available, but no timeline has been provided by the company yet, noted TopAuto.

GWM Shanhai Cannon

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