Disclosure: GWM Philippines lent us the GWM Cannon SLux for a week with a full tank of diesel and access to its two RFID cards.

Japanese and American offerings dominate the pick-up truck market in the Philippines.

It is a challenging segment to crack, especially for budding Chinese carmakers who want a piece of that lucrative pie. Filipinos want a durable, reliable car that can handle harsh conditions, especially with our roads.

Enter the GWM Cannon, a new pick-up truck that wants to stake its claim in our country but is already an established marque in other markets like Australia.

Does it have the right stuff to take on crowd favorites like the Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara, Isuzu D-MAX, and the Mitsubishi Strada? Let's find out.

Exterior

The GWM Cannon carries the typical proportions of a pickup truck with a long hood, broad front fascia, and a spacious bed at the back.

It presents itself as a "macho" pickup truck with its wide stance and imposing front.

We noticed that despite its massive chrome grille, the GWM Cannon unit we had on test still carried the brand's older logos at the back mixed in with its newer ones at the front.

This can be a bit confusing, especially if you look at the version of the Cannon being sold in the Australian market. 

Regardless, it offers great exterior features, such as LED headlights, LED taillights, a step board, and even a bed bar at the back. 

Something unique to the pickup truck is its body cladding, which is typically black for other vehicles but is silver on the Cannon. It's a nice touch to help set it apart from the rest of the pickup trucks in its segment.

Another thing that sets the Cannon apart is that it is one of the longest pickup trucks in the segment, coming in at a little over 5.4 meters long. For context, the Ford Ranger Raptor measures 5.3 meters long.

Regardless of its size, the Cannon is still reasonably easy to drive, but you still have to account for its length, meaning you must turn it in just a bit later than usual.

The Cannon SLux also has a 360-degree camera system to help you in tight spots, such as drive-throughs and parking complexes.

While the Cannon looks the part of a typical pick-up truck, GWM has done well to give it subtle, unique styling cues to help separate it from the rest of the competition.

Interior and tech

The GWM Cannon has a well-built interior.

While you get a couple of hard plastics here and there, soft-touch materials are prevalent, giving you a premium feel inside the vehicle. You also get power-adjustable leather seats, a nice touch to help you get into the correct driving position.

Our time with the GWM Cannon made us realize that the automaker is trying to strike a balance between a premium look and feel with a durable interior.

A pickup truck has to be not only a workhorse but also a lifestyle vehicle. This is a difficult task that the Cannon does decently.

Being a Chinese vehicle, space in the second row is very generous, especially compared to the tighter cabins that its rivals offer. Even with the front seats set as far as they can go, there is still plenty of room at the back for three occupants or two larger adults.

As for its controls, everything is easily within arm's reach and straightforward to operate, especially the climate controls.

Regarding technology, the GWM Cannon has a large 9-inch infotainment system that supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with a relatively easy-to-use user interface.

There is still a bit of menu juggling, but that's only if you want to change specific settings coming in and out of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

Power and fuel economy

Under the hood, the GWM Cannon is powered by a 2.0-liter turbodiesel engine that pushes out 161 horsepower and 400 Nm of torque.

It's not the most powerful pickup truck in the segment, but it's balanced for what it offers. Don't let the paper figures fool you, though, as the engine responsiveness and gearing are spot on to help you maximize the available power.

Power is sent to all four wheels via an 8-speed automatic transmission paired with a BorgWarner transfer case that comes in handy if you need to enter four-wheel drive.

The Cannon also comes with a rear locking differential, but unfortunately, it does not have a front locking diff. Still, it matches up with what its other pickup truck rivals have to offer as they, too, don't have a front-locking differential.

We tested the Cannon's off-roading capabilities during the GWM’s track day event, which showed us that the Cannon is still very much capable in the rough stuff and that its four-wheel-drive system works intuitively to give you the traction you need.

Despite its relatively low power figures, the Cannon is pretty fuel efficient, as we could get around 7 to 11 km/l in the city and 14 to 16 km/l on the highway. 

This is decent, given that this pick-up is one of the biggest in the segment. Thus, it lugs around more weight than whatever cargo you want to haul. 

Ride and handling

The GWM Cannon does not have the most powerful engine in the segment, especially compared to the Mitsubishi Strada, Nissan Navara, and Ford Ranger.

However, it has enough grunt to go up against the 2.4-liter Toyota Hilux and the 1.9-liter Isuzu D-MAX variants. 

When driving the pickup truck, don’t expect a rush of acceleration, but expect smooth power delivery and linear acceleration. It still packs enough grunt to rocket the vehicle forward when you want to overtake, but make sure that you allow a little more space when doing so.

As for its ride comfort, it's similar to what you would find on the Toyota Hilux. Yes, it's a bit bouncy as the road imperfections can make their way into the cabin, but you can tell the suspension is working.

We think the suspension has been tuned more to carry cargo than to provide a comfortable ride, as the ride quality increased when we put heavy items into the back.

Regardless of its rather stiff ride, the suspension system is still reassuring, almost as if you can run over anything and everything with ease, knowing you still have grip when you want it, which is excellent if you bring the pickup truck off-road.

Overall, it's still a balanced package geared towards those who use their pickup truck as a workhorse rather than just a lifestyle car.

Safety

The GWM Cannon is well-equipped on the safety front.

Standard features include:

• Adaptive Cruise Control
• Front and Rear Sensors
• Automatic emergency braking
• Cross-traffic Alert
• Forward Collision Warning
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System
• Traction Control
• Four Airbags
• Electronic Stability Control
• ABS and EBD
• Intelligent Cruise Assistance
• Lane Keep Assist
• Lane Change Assist

As a Chinese vehicle, it comes with features you wouldn’t typically find in a Japanese or American pickup truck, such as a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit.

Verdict

Here is the thing: the GWM Cannon is a balanced option for those who want to get a pickup truck as their next vehicle.

Admittedly, its styling needs to catch up, considering its competition, but it still makes up for it in size. It is also down on power compared to its rivals, but GWM has tuned it to be efficient and smooth for what it offers.

It is also better than the 2.4-liter Hilux and the 1.9-liter D-Max models, which GWM looks to be taking on with how the Cannon has been specced. Regardless, you get a lot of pickup truck for its price point of ₱1,498,000 as it is one of the longest vehicles in its class. 

It also offers you a good value for money proposition thanks to the advanced driver assist systems and the inclusion of a 360-degree camera, which is only present in the top-spec model of its competitors. 

While its reliability for the Philippine market has yet to be determined as it is a new product, GWM Philippines is working to ensure that its customers are well taken care of with parts at the ready.

The brand has even stated that it can fix crashed units in two weeks because it already has numerous stocks of body panels for all of its models.

GWM Philippines also offers a mobile preventive maintenance service (PMS) program as it builds its local dealer network to make it more convenient for its customers.

The Cannon also has its first PMS free within the 5,000 km/1 year range, whichever comes first. Its successive service intervals are scheduled every 10,000 km.

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