After returning from the auto show, I rushed to write this article. As a “veteran” in the off-road industry, I have always been reluctant to admit that China’s off-road culture is single and lagging. The freedom and off-road genes in the bones of Chinese people are often bound by life. In European and American countries, we can often see foreigners driving pickups, sailing boats, kayaks, and taking women and dogs to enjoy the outdoor time. Such scenes are in It is rare in China.
It has been known earlier that Great Wall will launch a brand new product series at the Shanghai Auto Show, including an off-road pickup truck. Judging from the official exposure picture, the appearance is tough and the configuration is leapfrog, which successfully ignited my restless heart. You know, Jeep has also exposed a new car Gladiator, one is an old off-road brand, the other is a family of powerful pickups. After weighing the balance, I set my sights on the new pickups of the Great Wall Cannon series launched by Great Wall.
I have always stubbornly believed that compared to traditional off-road vehicles, a pickup truck can obviously better meet the needs of versatility-a qualified pickup truck is often a perfect platform to achieve a variety of outdoor functions. Custom expansion, which is why I set my sights on the Great Wall pickup.
Under the influence of various factors, China’s pickup truck industry and market have always presented a barbell-like industrial structure. On the one hand, low-end pickups play an important role in the field of traditional utility vehicles. On the other hand, under the influence of pickup truck culture in North America, the high-end pickup truck market has developed rapidly in recent years with the appeal of individualization. With the upgrading of consumption and demand, Chinese people have not only pursued the commercial attributes of pickup trucks, but more life scenes have been injected into the demand for pickup trucks. The international pickup truck market has long been tilted towards high-end, with representative models including Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, and Mitsubishi L200.
As the first pickup truck in China equipped with 8AT+ multi-link rear suspension, the Cannon series pickup truck can be said to have opened the prelude to the era of passenger pickup trucks in China, leading the industry and market into a new field of passenger pickup truck subdivision.
Among the three pickup truck models of the Great Wall Cannon, in addition to the passenger pickup as a new benchmark for passenger pickups, which has become a popular model, the Cannon series off-road pickups are undoubtedly a major focus. In accordance with the practice of counterparts in the international market, the Cannon series off-road pickup trucks will be a master of the off-road performance-oriented technologies in this series. In the international market, there has never been a lack of such cases. For example, the Ford Ranger car series includes the high-performance Wildcat version and the Raptor version for the North American market.
From the perspective of positioning, the off-road pickup trucks of the Great Wall Pao series pickups follow the positioning of a typical “Chinese” high-performance pickup. Compared with the American high-performance pickups with Baja racing style and high-speed crossing as the main appeal, the “Chinese” off-road pickups emphasize more on the daily life as the starting point, by adding functional kits to build a More comprehensive product strength.
What needs to be emphasized is that the Great Wall Cannon off-road pickup is equipped with three front, middle and rear differential locks, wading hoses, and winches as standard. The performance of the off-road version is fully enhanced. The significance of the standard equipment is that Great Wall is committed to creating professional-level off-road pickups. I don’t need to say more about the significance of these three configurations.
In terms of chassis, the Gun series off-road pickup trucks have strengthened the chassis structure to a certain extent, and the matching tires still maintain a relatively normal size, but are replaced with all-terrain tires that are more practical for off-road needs. Such positioning is obviously more suitable for long-distance traversal. We can also find the same idea in the Ford Ranger Wildcat version for such a chassis upgrade.
The enhanced chassis is the Great Wall Cannon series of off-road pickups, and the posture of the whole vehicle is much more handsome. In terms of construction details, the off-road version also uses a large area of black off-road protection kit, which weakens the spraying area of the same body color of the body, increases the suspension stroke, and expands visually. The Great Wall pickup satisfies the basic demands of Chinese-style high-performance pickups, such as realizing the appearance of functional parts – the gantry on the cargo box is defined as an important feature that changes the design of the vehicle body.
As I said at the beginning, the multi-functional advantage of pickup trucks lies in their excellent platform characteristics. An independent cargo box can provide more possibilities for outdoor travel and daily life. In the mature market, the kits launched for the platform characteristics of pickup trucks have also driven a huge aftermarket. It can be said that the launch of the Great Wall Cannon series of off-road pickups has brought the personalized side of pickups and the modification culture of pickups to China. It has successfully subverted the single image of pickup trucks with hard-powered standard equipment and core technologies, opened the latest trend of off-road properties becoming the value of pickup trucks, and become a must-have pickup truck series for every off-road expert.
Great Wall Pickup, as the leader of pickup trucks, has been the leader in domestic sales for 21 consecutive years. At the same time, Great Wall Pickup has been creating and leading in creation. The launch of the Cannon series has once again demonstrated the leadership style and provided new ideas for the pickup industry. . Looking at the global market, Great Wall Pickup, with its comprehensive strength that can compete with Ford Pickup, is re-dividing the international pickup market and redefining the pickup rules in the international market. It is believed that Great Wall will lead the pickup trend in the future.
