'That's one of our weapons': As Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Nissan and more head upmarket, Chinese giant GWM commits to affordability with models like the Haval Jolion, Cannon ute and Ora electric car

As many mainstream car brands head further and further upmarket, one popular Chinese manufacturer has committed to maintaining its reputation for affordability and value.

Since its relaunch in Australia as a factory-backed operation in 2016, GWM has focussed on offering models at a competitive price at the entry point of the market, as brands like Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Toyota and more abandon the space.

With sales increasing significantly in the past decade, GWM prices have also steadily increased as the brand has adapted to shifts in the market. But it has maintained a focus on packing in as many features as it can across its diverse model range.

GWM ANZ Head of Marketing & Communications Steve Maciver highlighted the change in average price for a GWM product in the decade since its relaunch as buyer preference changes.

“Accessibility to me is around, are we bringing the right product at the right price? And there’s two things I can point you to - the average selling price of a GWM in this market in 2020 was $23,000. It's nearly double that today, and our volume has increased 14 times,” he told CarsGuide.

“So I would still argue that that makes us very, very accessible. We're certainly not as cheap as we might be, but the value is still there. Value is a relative term. Whether that's at $23,000 $45,000 or $80,000, value is still a strong weapon we have.”

Back in 2020 GWM sold a total of 2599 vehicles for the entire year. In 2024, the company hit a record sales tally of 42,782, that’s a 1546 per cent increase and enough for a top 10 placing last year.

GWM ANZ Chief Operating Officer John Kett said the strategy remains offering the latest tech at the lowest price it can manage with each new model launch.

“I think that's one of our weapons, the accessibility to our brand,” he said.

“At any point in time when we bring technology into the market, we want to be first in class if we can, but if we can't be first in class, we want to be best in class. If we can't be best in class we want to be equal in class.

“So that allows us to make sure that we're not here to be the cheapest price, but we're here to be accessible to technology at the most affordable price we can, and we're going to keep pushing for that, because that's our chance to push upwards.”

GWM does not play in the lower end passenger car segment and instead has three sub-brands with a different focus, including Haval for SUVs, Tank for off-roaders, Ora for EVs and Cannon for utes.

Currently, the most affordable model in GWM’s stable is the Haval Jolion Premium 2WD petrol at $26,990 drive-away. Its priciest model is the Tank 500 Ultra hybrid at $73,990.

With the launch of the updated version starting from $40,490 drive-away, the GWM Cannon is one of the most affordable 4x4 dual-cab utes in the country. It’s only undercut by the KGM SsangYong Musso (from $40,000 drive-away) and the Mahindra S11 Pik Up ($39,990 D/A), but the latter is in runout ahead of a replacement arriving later this year.

GWM ANZ Managing Director Charles Zhao said he is not worried about the influx of new Chinese brands coming this year, and said being one of the first to operate in Australia has helped brand awareness and perception.

“To be very frank, there are definitely more challenges. I can feel all the other Chinese brands are greatly improved, both on the product itself and also on the service they are going to provide. So in general, I believe this is good for Chinese brands to build a better image in the Australian market. But on the other hand, there is definitely more competition. Competition will be more fierce, and that is what is happening,” he told CarsGuide.

“We have been in this market longer than any other [Chinese brand], and we haven't left this market even in the toughest time, say, for example, in 2010, when the economic crisis, the Australian exchange rate was very bad. Many other brands have left because of the profitability.”

Zhao added that GWM has differentiated itself from many of the newer Chinese brands by offering a more diverse model line-up with multiple powertrain options.

“The other thing is we have different kinds of products. So we are not just offering an EV, but we are also offering the basket of options. We have the ICE (internal combustion engine) and we have the hybrid, we have the plug-in hybrid.”