GWM bringing facelift P-Series to South Africa but with a new name

Its market introduction unknown until now, Great Wall Motors (GWM) has confirmed that the facelift P-Series will arrive in South Africa in 2025, but under a new name and with its upsized turbodiesel engine.

New outside and inside

Unveiled in its home market in June as the updated Poer, the aesthetic tweaks comprise a new grille and headlights, redesigned front and rear bumpers, refreshed taillights and the first-time option of a hard-lid tonneau cover.

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Inside, the interior receives a P500-style makeover consisting of a new steering wheel, horizontal air vents, a seven-inch digital instrument cluster, a new dashboard and a 12.3-inch infotainment system in place of the current nine-inch display.

More powerful 2.4

Up front, the existing 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine will remain, but joined by the new 2.4-litre oil-burner soon to debut in the Tank 300 and as mentioned, already present in the P500.

Paired to the equally new nine-speed automatic gearbox, the unit develops 135kW/480Nm and will make-up an exclusive diesel-only line-up as the 140kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol available in China is not expected to be added at any stage.

Goodbye P-Series

In confirming the facelift P-Series’ arrival to cars.co.za, GWM South Africa’s Sales Director, Desmond Els, stated that the P-Series will become the P300.

A move already applied to the P500, known as the Shanhai Cannon in China, the P300 will form part of GWM’s rebranding strategy announced in February in which all of its products be aligned under the GWM name in spite of being sold under different marques in the People’s Republic.

In China, the P300 and P500 fall under the Poer brand, the Tank 300 and Tank 500 under the separate Tank name and the all-electric Ora under the marque of the same designation.

Locally though, all are sold as GWMs with the newly restructured Haval Jolion line-up now brandishing the GWM name as well as it has been in Australia.

According to Els, the P300 will make its market unveiling in the first quarter of 2025 with pricing and spec to be announced then.

Unlike in Australia where the P-Series/P300 resides under the Cannon Ute nameplate, no word has been about the Off-Road version that effectively replaces the P-Series Limited Edition.

More later

While still some way off, don’t be surprised if select details of the P300 emerge before year-end.

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