GWM Australia has big plans for 2026 on the back of its best sales year ever in 2025, with 10 new or refreshed models now confirmed for launch and more dealerships opening around the country.
The company announced last year it wanted to become a top-five auto brand in Australia, and confirmed a raft of new models including its first from Great Wall Motor’s premium Wey brand.
Now, it has shed some further light on its future product plans, with GWM locking in various models from its range of brands in China – all of which are treated as sub-brands and sold under the same GWM banner in Australia – including passenger cars, SUVs and utes.
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While it plans to continue to expand its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) lineup and finally introduce more electric vehicles (EVs), GWM isn’t forgetting about pure combustion power either.
GWM’s new 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel powertrain will make its global debut in Australia, where it will become available under the bonnet of the Cannon Alpha ute and Tank 500 large off-road SUV.
It’s set to offer more power and torque than GWM’s largest turbo-diesel at present, the 2.4-litre found in the Cannon, Cannon Alpha and Tank 300, which produces 135kW of power and 480Nm of torque.
The slightly smaller Cannon ute and Tank 300 off-road SUV will follow their larger siblings in adopting plug-in hybrid power, with the Tank 300 Hi4-T PHEV arriving in April and the Cannon Hi4-T due on sale here in mid-2026.
Also due this year is the Haval Jolion Max mid-size SUV, which will be offered with either PHEV or EV powertrains – making it GWM’s first Haval-badged EV.
Despite having a similar name to GWM’s current entry-level model, the Haval Jolion small SUV, the Jolion Max is a larger vehicle.
GWM’s slow-selling Ora electric hatch will be joined by “at least” two other models from the Ora brand, and the company today also confirmed it’s “potentially introducing PHEV technology to the Ora range”.
The Ora brand in China has only ever offered EVs.
One of these new Ora models is expected to be the Ora 5 mid-size SUV, while GWM’s reference to launching new passenger vehicles could suggest the Ora Sport will finally come here.
GWM brought an example of the electric sedan to Australia in 2024 for local media to test, and it has subsequently been joined on the Chinese market by a wagon version.
Finally, GWM Australia plans to launch Wey as a sub-brand in the second half of 2026, and its debut model is set to be a luxurious people mover known in other markets as the 80, G9 or Gaoshan.
It isn’t just GWM’s lineup that’s expanding, with its dealer network also set to grow.
GWM is targeting a 10 per cent increase in its network, bringing the total number of dealers nationwide from 123 to 135 by the end of this year. That includes a new flagship dealership in Rockingham, Western Australia that will set a new benchmark for the look, feel and service experience offered by GWM’s dealers.
The company has also confirmed it has increased its staff numbers by 20 per cent, and appointed new heads for customer experience and parts and logistics, among other roles.
“Product is only one element of success. Expanded dealer network coverage, enhanced aftersales support, improved parts availability and comprehensive technical training will form the core foundations of our pursuit of a top five position. These are non-negotiable,” said GWM ANZ chief operating officer John Kett.
GWM notched up 52,809 deliveries last year in Australia, its highest tally yet. The brand placed seventh overall, making it the best-selling Chinese brand Down Under in 2025.
It’s planning to deliver more than 60,000 vehicles this year and, by 2027, GWM wants to increase its market share from 4.3 to 7.0 per cent.
Based on the size of the Australian new-car market last year, that’s around 87,000 sales, which would put it in the top five. Had it delivered that many vehicles last year, it would have been beaten by only Toyota, Ford and Mazda.
However, Mr Kett confirmed last week that GWM is aspiring for annual sales volume of around 75,000 units in the coming years.
“We aren’t making any outlandish statements of 100,000 [sales] and our premium brand will be 10,000. We just want to get to 75,000 – so we set ourselves a target of a ‘6’ in front of our volume number this year, and we’ve got 20,000 ideas to get there,” he told Australian media.
“Our benefit is we’re across all fuel types. Our nemesis is we don’t quite have the BYD story or the Geely story, because we’re not that one-dimensional.”
GWM says it’s entering “its next growth phase with a robust pipeline designed to challenge established players and reset expectations in the Australian automotive landscape”.
The brand now has a range of small, medium and large SUVs; two different utes; and one passenger car. It also offers petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains.
But it’ll have to contend with not only more established players from Japan and Korea, but also surging Chinese automakers.
BYD was just 394 deliveries behind GWM last year, and is rolling out a raft of new models itself, including Australia’s cheapest EV, the Atto 1 hatch.
It also has small and mid-size electric SUVs, a mid-size electric sedan, and a large, three-row plug-in hybrid SUV, for which GWM presently has no answer.
Chery is also rising rapidly in Australia and wants to become a top-five brand here, with its sister brand Omoda Jaecoo also expected to be in the top 10. MG has also previously announced goals of becoming a top-five brand by 2027, and in the top three by 2030.
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