The GWM Cannon Alpha and Tank 500 received key fixes to throttle response and advanced driver assistance systems at the factory earlier this year, and now existing owners are able to have these upgrades applied to their cars.
The changes were applied at production level early in 2025, with CarExpert getting the opportunity to test them late last year.
GWM says they’re now available to existing owners though there’s no over-the-air update available, so owners will need to head to one of the Chinese brand’s dealerships to receive the update.
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GWM has also confirmed there are no changes for the Cannon ute and Tank 300 off-roader – as they use different programming, the updates made to their larger platform-mates aren’t transferable.
“We continue to work hard to ensure the voice of our local market is heard and considered,” said GWM Australia and New Zealand marketing and communications boss Steve Maciver.
“These upgrades reflect recent feedback from our customers across Australia and New Zealand and demonstrate GWM’s global commitment to supporting our region and continually refining the product to better suit local drivers.
“It’s not just about building for the future – we’re also focused on delivering meaningful updates and improvements to our existing owners, ensuring their experience continues to strengthen with our brand.”
GWM says it has improved throttle response and sensitivity in hybrid versions of the Cannon Alpha and Tank 500, while the following changes have been applied to not only these models but also the Cannon Alpha diesel:
- Adaptive cruise control
- Curve speed control refinements to improve level of speed reduction when cornering
- Acceleration response increased when resuming set speed
- Driver monitoring system
- Voice warning changed to alert sound, volume decreased
- On/off switch memory function added, system no longer defaults to on
- Emergency lane-keep assist
- Visual warning alert changed to ‘lane flashing’ warning in digital instrument cluster
- Quick key now accessible in the shortcut menu, accessed by swiping down on the touchscreen
GWM also says it has “optimised” false triggering alerts on certain road surfaces with the emergency lane-keep assist, and added a Trailer Hitch Track guideline on the touchscreen.
In Paul Maric’s testing of the old calibration and new calibration back-to-back on the Cannon Alpha Hybrid late last year, he found the throttle was more responsive, the transition between electric and hybrid mode smoother, and the ‘sticky throttle’ issue had been eliminated.
The distraction monitoring changes were also improved, though he noted more work could be done on the accuracy of the lane centring system.
GWM recently discontinued the Cannon Alpha Hybrid in Australia, leaving only the diesel and the recently launched plug-in hybrid (PHEV) on sale.
The Tank 500 remains hybrid-only in Australia, though a PHEV powertrain is due later this year.
GWM quietly moved the Tank 500 Hybrid from a Chinese to a Thai market suspension tune late last year to improve its dynamics.
However, it doesn’t have a locally developed suspension tune like in more recent models such as the Cannon Alpha PHEV.
GWM is working to not only improve the performance of its advanced driver assistance systems in Australia but also how the vehicles drive. To that end, in April it appointed vehicle ride and handling expert Rob Trubiani who was Holden’s lead vehicle dynamics engineer for nearly 15 years.
These days, an automaker having a dedicated, permanent local engineering and tuning program based in Australia is far from common, and puts GWM in the same company as Kia.
The fast-growing Chinese brand has been securing further talent from more established brands of late, with John Kett joining GWM as its chief operating officer earlier this year after holding the same role at Hyundai Australia for more than five years.
To the end of June, GWM is also Australia’s seventh best-selling brand.
It delivered 25,189 vehicles in the first half of this year, up 17 per cent and a new record for the brand, placing it behind only Toyota (120,978), Mazda (48,942), Ford (47,300), Kia (40,750), Hyundai (38,948) and Mitsubishi (33,379) in year-to-date standings.