Haval Motors South Africa (HMSA) has finally lifted the veil on the local version of its new Great Wall Motors (GWM) P Series bakkie.

he recent introduction of the P Series has seen GWM make rapid gains in the Chinese bakkie market.

Market share held steady between 24% and 31% in China since 2010, but the P Series launch saw this increase to 42% in 2019, before jumping to 54% in 2020.

More than 10 000 units retailed in November in China.

HMSA says it has sold more than 500 00 GWM bakkies in the local market since 2007, with a market share in this popular segment of around 2%.

The new P Series launch sees the introduction of two versions of the pickup in South Africa –commercial and passenger.

The double-cab is available in both versions, but the single-cab is only available as a commercial version.

Both manual and automatic transmissions are available in all versions, except the single-cabs, which only use manual transmission. The P Series marks the first time GWM introduces an auto transmission on a pickup, this being a ZF eight-speed gearbox.

here are 16 versions of the P Series on offer in South Africa, with ten specification lists and six colour variants.

HMSA promises that the P Series is “jam-packed” with technology, including auto cruise control, self-adaptive cruise control and smart cruise control support, automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist and traffic sign recognition.

This list also includes a seven-inch LCD virtual instrument cluster, intelligent voice control, remote startup, a nine-inch multimedia screen, Android and Apple CarPlay, and wireless phone charging.

There are two airbags on base models, and up to seven airbags in the top-specification vehicles. Vehicle stability and traction control are standard across the range, as are hill-hold assist and park distance control.

The vehicle is also equipped with three USB outlets, as well as a 220 V power supply and 12 V power supply.

There is also a rear step that integrates into the tailgate.

The P Series will only be available with a 2 ℓ turbo diesel engine in South Africa, with the powerplant delivering 120 kW of power and 400 Nm of torque.

Pricing for the single-cab commercial model starts at R339 900, and at R369 900 for the double-cab commercial version.

The passenger double-cab range starts at R434 900.