GWM has acknowledged its chassis tuning needed work in markets like Australia, and that updates made by the local team working to fix it – led by ex-Holden engineer Rob Trubiani – will be rolled out to global markets.
“When we shipped our vehicles to New Zealand and Australia, we got some complaints, especially to the suspension, to the chassis,” explained GWM chief technology officer Nicole Wu to Australian media.
“At the beginning our engineers didn’t agree. We think ‘no, suspension, our chassis is perfect, we haven’t gotten any complaints from customers, so why do Australian and New Zealand people complain?’ We didn’t understand.
“We have local managers and local teams and they told me that no, they’re not good, so we sent engineers to Australia to drive with the local people and to test with the local people, and we learned a lot.
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“We agree with your complaints, we need to optimise our chassis and our suspension, and that kind of complaint and modification are helping us to be stronger.”
Work to refine the ride and handling of GWM vehicles was given the name AT-1 (pronounced ‘at one’), announced in July 2025, with GWM taking up permanent residency at the former Holden proving ground in Lang Lang, Victoria.
Presently, GWM Australia has AT-1 chassis tunes on its Cannon Alpha ute and Haval H6 and Haval H6 GT mid-size SUVs, plus the plug-in hybrid version of the Tank 500 large SUV. The upcoming Ora 5 small electric SUV will also launch with an AT-1 tune.
With the Haval H6 specifically, GWM has confirmed there are different tunes for the different variants instead of a one-size-fits-all strategy.
GWM says each variant went through roughly 24 front and 40 rear suspension damper tunes, along with extensive steering calibration, to optimise ride, handling, and overall driving behaviour.
Next on the agenda for Mr Trubiani’s team are the Tank 300 large off-road SUV and Cannon ute, before other models eventually receive AT-1 tuning too.
Only Tank 300 diesel, hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants will receive an AT-1 tune, as GWM phases out the base petrol powertrain mid-year, along with the petrol version of the Haval H6 GT.
The idea of the local tuning, GWM says, is to “deliver confidence, capability and comfort in the diverse and often demanding conditions experienced across the ANZ region” by undertaking “ride and handling calibration, refinement of advanced driver assistance systems, enhancements to towing and overall vehicle driving performance”.
These refinements will be rolled out to other key markets for the brand.
“Not only from Australia, after Australia we started to look to the other markets, to South Africa for example. The driving habits [there] actually follow Australia,” continued Ms Wu.
“So when we solved the problem from Australia and New Zealand, it turns out that other areas, their customers are also satisfied. So that is what we learned from Australia and New Zealand, to help us be better, be stronger, and to satisfy more overseas markets’ customers.”
When asked explicitly if that means AT-1 tuning will go global, she said, “Yes… Not only to South Africa, to Europe, to Brazil… Thanks to Australia and New Zealand!”
GWM says the AT-1 philosophy doesn’t mean that once a vehicle has a unique tune, that that’s it for updates, with scope for ongoing improvements.
“With AT-1, it is part of the ongoing improvement process. The Ora 5 will launch with AT-1, but then we’ll continue to improve it as well further on,” said GWM Australia product planning manager Tim Leong, who confirmed this will be the strategy for other new vehicle launches.
Updates for active safety and driver assist technology will also be made, which will be made available to existing owners at dealerships or via over-the-air software updates.
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