GWM POER300 Ultra (2026) Review

HAVE you seen the price of pick-ups?

Where they were once utilitarian vehicles, the preserve of farmers, builders and travelling folk, they have become more mainstream and lifestyle. The delightful Government has also closed the tax loophole that made them a bargain to buy.

They are now categorised as passenger cars rather than commercials so you have to pay the tax – spoil sports. That means you can fork out 40, 50 even 60K for the privilege of running a truck.

To be fair they are very car-like, well, at least, SUV-like nowadays. But that’s still a lot of dosh.

It will be no surprise that China can do better and Great Wall Motors has released a pick-up that’s under 40K. But is the GWM POER300 any good? In a word yes. It’s brilliant and I love it.

First of all, it is massive, a real bruiser, like something you’d find in America. You sit high and it is wide and long, bigger than the competition, I feel. It dominates the roads and people get out of your way, whether you are in town or along single carriageway country roads. If you do decide to take pity on those below you there’s the option to venture into the rough stuff safe in the knowledge you can get back on the road easy enough afterwards.

POER300 will carry the obligatory 3.5 tonnes and I even managed to fit a double mattress in the load bay, though I had to leave the tailgate down.

The 2.4 litre turbo diesel is smooth and torquey, quiet and sophisticated. The 183PS and 480Nm of torque it offers provides remarkable performance and great pulling power. It’s a supreme cruiser on the motorway, relaxed and long-legged. It is peppy enough under power and very economical. I saw 37.7mpg on the trip computer giving the GWM a range of more than 530 miles.

It is properly rugged too. Road sees it run in two wheel drive or four-wheel-drive high. But decent tyres will make it perfect for off road forays as will the all-wheel-drive with low ratio box and rear diff-lock. There’s also hill decent/ascent control. It’s all very workmanlike.

But POER300 boasts a high degree of panache. It looks great in its silver metallic livery and the interior is nothing short of plush. Even in the midrange spec of ‘Ultra’ you get soft touch trim, leather accents, decent specification which moves this pick-up into a category that is more akin to easy-to-live-with SUV than austere truck.

There’s a digital dash and easy to navigate touchscreen, powered adjustable seats which are heated and ventilated, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android AutoTM, six speaker infotainment, multi-functional steering wheel and a wireless charger.

The gear lever looks like something from the Transformer movie and is better for it. No luxury is spared. Even the dratted keep lane assist is easy to turn off – one button on the steering wheel, two dabs of the touchscreen and it’s gone.

The list of electronic safety gadgets is endless, the important ones to mention including trailer sway mitigation, electronic stability control, front collision warning and emergency braking.

It all conspires to make the POER300 a comfortable and capable cruiser. A 200 mile round trip expedition to the other side of the country is dispensed with, not  simply with ease, but with a level of pleasure that is surprising. The GWM really is such a great drive.

The POER300 feels well-built which is reflected in its impressive warranty – five year 125,000 miles on the mechanicals, six year unlimited mileage anti-corrosion and a five year 60,000 miles paint warranty.

All of this for under £40,000 – that’s what I call a pick-up.

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