GWM has upgraded its Tank 500 yet again, with the launch of a facelifted version of the large SUV in China last week, but it won’t be available in Australia any time soon.
The updated 2026 GWM Tank 500 brings minor styling enhancements plus a range of new luxury and safety equipment little more than a year after the Toyota Prado rival was released Down Under.
But its new look and new equipment – which includes a built-in fridge and roof-mounted rear entertainment system – won’t be introduced alongside a plug-in hybrid powertrain due in Australia from October.
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“For now, ANZ [Australian and New Zealand] will continue with the current version,” said a GWM Australia spokesperson.
“[We have] No plans to confirm our intention to align with revised specification recently seen in China.”
China’s MY26 Tank 500 brings a revised grille that now underlines the headlights on both sides, and differs from the ‘sports’ grille introduced earlier this year – including for the black-themed Vanta range-topper.
There are also new alloy wheel designs, a Dunhuang (dark green) exterior colour option, revised GWM Tank badging at the rear and, inside, a column-mounted gear selector and new blue and white colourway.
The biggest interior upgrade is reserved for rear-seat occupants, who score a 50W refrigerator built into the centre console, and an entertainment system comprising a 17.3-inch 3K multimedia screen that flips down from the roof and can be controlled by voice, gesture, touch, or mobile phone.
According to Autohome, the Chinese-market Tank 500 also gains a new roof-mounted Hesai LTX LiDAR sensor plus new cameras on the front fenders and rear spoiler to support upgraded advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) capabilities powered by GWM’s third-generation Coffee Pilot Ultra safety suite.
The Tank 500 was first revealed in China in 2021, before its domestic launch in 2022 in both turbocharged 3.0-litre petrol V6 and turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol hybrid forms.
The latter has powered the Tank 500 in Australia since its local launch in March 2024, but the seven-seat off-road wagon did receive a safety and powertrain system upgrades in response to criticism in December 2024, which were made available to new and existing owners earlier this month.
Recently, GWM also revealed its first Tank 500 diesel, powered by the same 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel as the smaller Tank 300 and the Cannon Alpha ute. However, this Thai-built variant was ruled out for Australia, which will instead receive a beefier new 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel by around 2027.
For now, Australia’s Tank 500 hybrid will be joined by one of two plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrains already available in China from October, beating both the Prado and the top-selling Ford Everest to market with PHEV power – and becoming the first large, ladder-frame SUV to offer such a powertrain in Australia.
GWM Australia won’t say whether it will be the same off-road-focused ‘Hi4-T’ system that’s also available in the Cannon Alpha PHEV, which combines a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a single electric motor to produce 300kW of power and 750Nm of torque, or the on-road-focussed, dual-motor Hi4-Z powertrain that slams down a mammoth 635kW and 1195Nm.
“There’s no confirmation yet on which powertrain will be offered for the ANZ market,” the GWM Australia spokesperson told CarExpert today. “The [Tank 500 PHEV] launch in October will be centred on the powertrain reveal.”
Both of the Tank 500’s PHEV powertrains are based around the same 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four, but while the Hi4-T continues with a mechanical four-wheel-drive system, transfer case and differential locks, there’s no mechanical connection between the front and rear electric motors of the Hi4-Z, which has multi-link rear suspension and almost double the battery capacity.
In China, the Tank 500 Hi4-Z has a 59.05kWh battery pack positioned between the axles rather than at the rear, offering a claimed 201km (WLTC) of electric-only driving range and 1096km of total range.
But even the Hi4-T offers 45kW/102Nm higher outputs than the standard Tank 500 hybrid, while still being capable to ford water up to 800mm deep and offering similar off-road geometry, albeit with 11mm less ground clearance. It offers 110km of range on the WLTC cycle.
The Tank 500 Hi4-T weighs 398kg more than the plugless hybrid version already on sale here, while the Hi4-Z weighs another 150kg at 2980kg.
GWM Australia previously told CarExpert the PHEV version would attract an estimated price premium of between $6000 and $15,000 over the current Tank 500 HEV, which is available in two equipment grades priced from $66,490 drive-away.
So you can expect a starting price of about $72,000 drive-away for the cheapest Tank 500 PHEV, given the single-motor Hi4-T powertrain seems more likely for Australia.
“It’s going to depend on the size of the battery pack… range and battery size is what defines pricing,” GWM Australia marketing and communications boss Steve Maciver told us previously.
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