GWM initially expected the Tank 300 PHEV would make up around 30 per cent of sales, but due to the war in the Middle East it's now likely to be on par with diesel and petrol.
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GWM has doubled the production volume of its plug-in hybrid Tank 300 for Australia, claiming it will split sales around equally with petrol-only and diesel versions as interest in electrified vehicles booms locally.
Currently the second-biggest seller of plug-in hybrid vehicles in Australia, GWM just launched the Tank 300 PHEV, joining the petrol, hybrid and diesel variants already on sale.
Since the start of the war and the resulting fuel price hikes, GWM said demand has gone “through the roof,” and it has never seen demand like it, with 46 per cent of sales in March of electrified vehicles.
Andrew Gao, Managing Director of GWM Australia and New Zealand, told media, including Drive, that the brand was being quick to react to buyers’ changing preferences.
“As everybody knows, the fuel pricing is increasing sharply, and now the diesel pricing is $1 more than the petrol. I think [at this] time, the [Tank] 300 PHEV will help these customers to ease the strain of the fuel cost, and they [can continue to] enjoy the outdoor activity very easily,” he said.
“Our current order backlog for this model is quite strong…stronger than our expectation. And now, in the last month, we have already temporarily asked our factory to increase production of this model.
“We are looking at two times more volume than before for the Tank 300 [PHEV].”
The Chinese brand said the hybrid variant that arrived here in 2022 will gradually be phased out and replaced by the plug-in, and the sales split will be fairly even between it and the diesel and petrol versions.
“I think, moving forward, the initial planning is probably 70 [per cent] petrol and diesel together, and the plug-in hybrid 30 [per cent]. And with the hybrid, that one's going to slowly be removed,” added Tim Leong, Product Planning Manager.
“Given the time now…we are upping the volume in [PHEV], and that is going to skew probably more towards fifty-fifty moving forward. But the good thing for us is that we are very flexible, and we are quick to react to the market as well.
“We're gonna (sic) see what happens to the fuel pricing on the global stage, and we're going to adjust as required.
“I think diesel and PHEV still have their place. Everyone does four-wheel driving differently and uses the vehicle differently.
“But hypothetically, it definitely proposes a very good alternative to diesel, depending on your use case, especially if you use it in the city most of the year and only tow once or twice a year, or you only occasionally do four-wheel driving.”
In a presentation to journalists, GWM extolled the benefits of the plug-in hybrid over the diesel, claiming it is “just as good, if not better”, outlining how buyers can save thousands each year by going green.
According to the brand, buying a Tank 300 PHEV in the first year of ownership would save you $2369. By year two, that number would swell to $5138.
Additionally, it said, the base grade Tank 300 Lux PHEV is only a $3000 step up from the top-spec Ultra diesel.
However, Chief Operating Officer John Kett was keen to contend diesel still has a place, and the car maker will be led by what buyers want most.
“We'll just go where the demand goes, right? I think that's what's important to us,” he said.
“I think we feel really good about the fact that, that our [plug-in hybrid tech] has really been, it's been purpose technology for us, and we think each time we bring an evolution of that out across Tank and Cannon, we believe it starts narrowing that, that traditional gap between, between hybrid and diesel.
“While we see the external pressures today in terms of maybe the cost of living being a trigger to that shift towards PHEV, we feel like over time that adoption rate's gonna (sic) shift that way.”
All versions of the Tank 300, except the diesel, use a version of its 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, mated to a 9-speed automatic transmission in the hybrid and PHEV, and an 8-speed in the petrol.
The diesel is powered by a 2.4-litre turbo-diesel engine, paired with the nine-speed auto.
The PHEV is the most powerful, offering a combined 300kW, while the diesel has the most torque of the non-hybrids, with 480Nm available.
The thirstiest is the pure-petrol variant, at 9.5L/100km, and the most fuel-efficient is the PHEV, which is claimed to use just 1.9L/100km in lab testing that favours electric range. The diesel uses a claimed 7.8L/100km, and the hybrid 8.4L/100km.
In terms of price, the diesel is the cheapest, starting from $47,990, while the PHEV is the most expensive, priced from $57,990, both drive-away.
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A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
