New GWM Tank 300 in South Africa – What you get for R852,000

GWM’s Tank division has finally set up shop in South Africa with the launch of its first model, the 300.

The 300 is the ambassador of what we can expect from the Chinese automaker’s 4×4 division in the coming years, setting the price of entry for the brand at R725,950, or up to R851,950 if you want the top-of-the-range model.

The premium SUV has an extensive spec sheet and is available with two different engines, including a hybrid, which GWM is hoping will give it the edge to take on the industry’s heavy hitters like the Toyota Fortuner, Ford Everest, and Jeep Wrangler.

What you get

The Tank has two trim levels, Super Luxury and Ultra Luxury, but only the former has access to both engines, meaning there are three units in total.

The standard engine is a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol block with 167kW and 387Nm, which uses an eight-speed automatic gearbox and has an average fuel consumption of 95.l/100km.

There is also a hybrid version of the same powertrain with a nine-speed auto, which increases its output to 255kW and 648Nm while also reducing the fuel usage to 8.4l/100km.

Each car comes with a rear diff lock, a four-wheel-drive system, front and rear tow hooks, and Crawl Control (off-road cruise control).

The non-hybrid units have driving modes for Standard, Standard 2H, Standard 4H, Snow 4H, Expert 4L, Irregular, Mountain, Mud, and Rock, while the electrified model has Standard, Economic, Sport, Snow, Mud, Sand, and 4L modes.

Starting things off with the features, all versions have access to rain-sensing wipers, automatic LED headlights, 17-inch alloy wheels, a sunroof, synthetic leather upholstery, a leather steering wheel with paddle shifters, keyless entry and start, electric front seats, dual-zone climate control, 7-colour ambient lighting, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 12.3-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Furthermore, each car has safety equipment in the form of adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist with lane centring, smart speed assist, hill-assist control, hill-descent control, a traffic sign reader, traffic-jam assist, junction assist, driver fatigue monitoring, front and rear parking sensors, and a 360-degree camera.

The petrol-only units also have a few exclusive items, namely smart dodge, intelligent corner control, rear-collision warning, emergency lane-keeping, blind-spot detection with a parallel-assist system, and cross-traffic alert with braking.

The Ultra Luxury trim then takes things a step further with Nappa leather seats with heating, ventilation, massaging, and lumbar support, a heated steering wheel, 64-colour ambient lighting, and larger 18-inch alloy rims.

Each purchase comes with a 7-year/200,000km warranty, a 5-year/75,000km service plan, and a 7-year/150,000km roadside assistance plan.

The hybrid additionally receives an 8-year/150,000km hybrid battery warranty.