GWM P300 (2025) First Drive Review
There's a heavily updated version of GWM's popular P-Series bakkie. Badged the P300 to denote that it slots in below the luxury-oriented P500 range, I had a chance to drive the newcomer at its national media launch this past week. Here's what you need to know.
GWM has built much of its reputation with work and leisure bakkies over 18 years within the local market. Its leisure-focused models are a more recent addition to the range, with the P-Series being introduced in 2020. In the five years since it was introduced, the P-Series has gained a loyal following, with local consumers finding it well-specified, relatively frugal and, most importantly, affordable. An updated version of the model has now badged the P300 to align it with the more luxurious P500. I drove the new model at its national media launch recently.
Related: GWM P500 2.4T Super Luxury 4x4 (2024) Review
GWM bakkies
While most South Africans will remember the likes of the Steed having helped build the brand's light commercial vehicle reputation nearly two decades ago, the brand can trace its bakkie roots further back to 1996, with the GWM Deer in 1996, which laid down the groundwork for the brand to lead pick-up sales in China for nearly 30 years.
Updated styling
The exterior of the P300 is noticeably different. A new grille, LED headlights, wheel-arch extensions, GWM-stamped tailgate, a sunroof, either fixed or off-road sidesteps, and a tailgate step round-off the design additions. The overall design is well executed and, in LT guise, leans more towards the urban side of things, while the LTD is certainly more targeted at those looking to do some overlanding.
Drivetrain
A new engine powers the P300 range, a 2.4-litre turbodiesel that produces 135kW/480Nm paired with a 9-speed automatic gearbox. There's an option of a 4x2 or a 4x4 drivetrain, with the latter featuring a torque-on-demand transfer case. The LT models, available in either 4x2 or 4x4 guise, comes with a rear locking differential, with the 4x4 model also featuring the Off-Road Expert Mode, a front winch with Crawl Control and a front locking differential.
The claimed fuel consumption is 8.2 L/100km, but a figure of 9.8 L/100km at the launch event was more realistic. It offers a braked towing capacity of 3.5-tons and a payload of 875kg, while ground clearance, approach, break-over and departure angles are not quoted.
Interior updates
The P300 is again rather heavily updated inside, with a new dashboard design incorporating ambient lighting, a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 7.0-inch digitised instrument cluster, a 50-watt wireless charging pad, a sunroof and heated leather seats. Considering the price point at which the P300 is positioned, the interior and features on offer are certainly impressive!
Safety
The P300 range has many safety systems, including 6 airbags (7 in the LTD model), automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, blind spot monitoring, and adaptive cruise control. In practice, I found the systems less invasive than in older models from the brand, which is a good thing, although the lane-keeping assist could do with better calibration as it is still overly sensitive.
Driving impression
One of the key bugbears I remember taking from my experience driving the outgoing P-Series was the often sluggish, laggy 2.0-litre turbodiesel mill, which, I am happy to report, has been much improved upon, with the 2.4-litre mill being both more responsive and offering superior power and torque curves. The ride quality, while still relatively firm, is an improvement, as is the general refinement, where cabin intrusion and tyre road are lower than in the outgoing car and on par with other double cabs at slightly higher price points.
Pricing*
P300 D-CAB 2.4TD LT 2WD -R599 900
P300 D-CAB 2.4TD LT 4WD—R649 900
P300 D-CAB 2.4TD LTD 4WD -R699 900
*The P300 pricing includes a 7-year/ 200 000km warranty and a 7-years /75 000km service plan.
More models on the way
The brand confirmed that a more affordable LS variant of the P300 is headed to local shores in the second quarter of the year, while an even more basic SX version, which gets the new exterior treatment and updated specifications, but retains the old 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine is set for a third quarter launch.
