The mighty GWM Tank 700 may head to Australia in the near future – and given it currently costs the equivalent of around A$150,000 it’ll be not only a flagship for the brand, it will become one of the most expensive Chinese cars on sale in Australia.
GWM Australia’s head of marketing and communications Steve Maciver told CarExpert the vehicle is under consideration.
“The question is, do we think we can make a business case for Australia? I’d like to think so,” Mr Maciver said.
GWM could move very fast to make the vehicle available in right-hand drive once the business case for the new model is approved. The brand filed a trademark for the name locally back in November 2021.
“In theory, if we were to build a business case and decide that the car was right for us and we could bring it as a flagship, that could happen as quickly as six or nine months. That’s how quickly this brand moves. We’ve seen it before with other products that we’ve been introduced to, and it’s on sale and available to us really quickly.
“The capability’s there, the will is there. If the markets want it and the business case can be proven and it stacks up from a global perspective, well then yeah, it happens.”
The Tank 700 Hi4-T variant uses a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine making 268kW of power and 500Nm of torque without a plug-in hybrid system.
Paired with an electric motor, outputs are bumped up to 386kW and 750Nm. Drive is sent through a nine-speed automatic transmission to a four-wheel drive system.
The Tank 700 offers air suspension, electromagnetic shock absorbers, and a disconnecting stabiliser bar for greater off-road ability.
It measures 5113mm long, 2061mm wide and 1952mm tall on a 3000mm wheelbase. For reference, a Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series measures up at 5015mm long, 2000mm wide, and 1950mm tall on a 2850mm wheelbase.
While it is currently only available with a turbocharged V6, it seems likely a lower grade model using the same 2.0-litre turbo hybrid petrol from the Tank 500 today may become an option in the near future, and potentially change the starting price.
