The new ute alternative - if it doesn’t drive you mad

I’m going to cut straight to the chase – the GWM Cannon Alpha is one of the most interesting new vehicles I’ve driven in 2024. It’s also the most annoying.

Not mildly irritating or occasionally problematic, but consistently and repeatedly mind-numbingly frustrating to the point that you want to park it and jump out. At the heart of the matter is the most overly-sensitive active driver safety features I’ve come across in a new model. GWM is not on its own in this department, and there are some big name brands that struggle, but this is the most hyper-active system I’ve personally encountered.

It will tell you if you’re speeding, as soon as you go 1km/h over the limit. It will alert you if you veer in the lane. But, by far the biggest issue is its constant reminder that you need to ‘pay attention’ to the road. Which would be great if I was looking away from the road or didn’t have my hands on the wheel, but over and over again it would insist I ‘pay attention’ even though that was exactly what I was doing. Personally, I find it annoying-beyond-words to be told to do something I’m already doing, so I found the Cannon Alpha’s safety systems incredibly rude.

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For the record, yes, you can turn off many of these systems, but you need to do it every time you start the car, which is another frustration. So, realistically, you’ll either have to get into the habit of jumping through the menu and deactivating them every time you jump behind the wheel, or simply find your inner-zen and get used to the endless commentary on your driving from the car.

READ MORE: Review – GWM Ute Cannon X

Which is an incredible shame, because aside from this issue, the rest of the Cannon Alpha is very likeable. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the Cannon Alpha may look like the Cannon Ute in the photos, but it’s actually a half-size bigger. It’s not quite as big as a Ford F-150 (5455mm v 6184mm) but it’s noticeably larger than the likes of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

Which is an unfamiliar size for the local market and gives the Cannon Alpha a unique selling point. It means a bigger cabin for a more spacious interior, without being quite as long or wide as a US-style pickup truck, and therefore easier to live with in Australia.

We sampled the range-topping Ultra Hybrid model and the interior has a premium touch to it, feeling more like a family-friendly SUV rather than a simplistic workhorse. There’s a large central touchscreen and leather seats, which make it look polished, although some of the other materials look and feel a little budget-conscious.

As the name implies, the Cannon Alpha Ultra Hybrid is powered by a petrol-electric hybrid system, which puts it on the leading-edge of the ute segment that’s preparing for a more fuel-efficient future. The powertrain in question is a 180kW/380Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine paired with a 78kW/268Nm electric motor, which is mounted between the engine and nine-speed automatic transmission. All totaled, the Cannon Alpha is packing 255kW and 648Nm, which is more-than-capable of motivating the upsized ute.

The other area where the Cannon Alpha impresses is the price. The Ultra Hybrid starts at $64,990, which is roughly equivalent with the middle-of-the-lineup Ford Ranger XLT ($63,640) and a lot cheaper than an F-150 (from $106,950).

However, despite its great space, clever powertrain and good value, I can’t recommend the Cannon Alpha hybrid without the very strong caveat that you must take it for a lengthy test drive to determine if you have the tolerance to live with its safety tech.

Driving the Cannon Alpha is like sharing the car with an attention-seeking back seat driver. The kind of person that yells if you take your hand off the wheel for a second or shriek in fear if you speed for even a moment. More safety in cars is great in theory, but the practical realities of tuning it for real-world performance remains a work-in-progress for many brands, GWM included.

Until they sort that out, this otherwise very tempting proposition is hamstrung.