GWM has announced the showroom arrival of its first Australian-tuned model Haval H6 This is a significant milestone in the Chinese car brand’s local development program, which is developing vehicles specifically for Australia and New Zealand.
The H6 is GWM’s first model to be developed locally under its “AT-1” (pronounced “at one”) program, which was announced in July 2025 and resulted in the company taking up permanent residence at General Motors’ former proving ground in Lang Lang, Victoria, and recruiting former Holden engineering guru Rob Trubiani to lead development.
GWM says the purpose of the program is to ensure its vehicles “deliver confidence, performance and comfort in the diverse and often demanding conditions across the ANZ region” through “driving and handling calibration, refinement of advanced driver assistance systems, improvements to towing and overall driving performance of the vehicle”.
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It also outlined that AT-1 is a “long-term development philosophy” intended to help engineers tune each individual GWM model and variant, rather than just offering a standalone update or fixed set of changes.
In the case of the H6, this has resulted in five different vehicle tunes depending on the variant, “to adapt to any powertrain configuration, vehicle weight and powertrain combination,” says GWM.
This applies to non-hybrid front-wheel drive (2WD), hybrid 2WD, hybrid all-wheel drive (AWD), plug-in hybrid 2WD and plug-in hybrid AWD variants. Improved versions of all 2WD variants are available in showrooms now, with the remaining variants following “shortly”.
According to GWM, each variant went through approximately 24 front and 40 rear suspension damper adjustments as well as extensive steering calibration to optimize ride, handling and overall ride.
The program is designed to enable incremental improvements over time, with a “continuous refinement cycle” based on “real-world insights, customer feedback and usage.”
“The result is a more coherent and safer character with significant improvements in everyday driving scenarios,” said Trubiani.
“From improved ride fidelity on uneven surfaces to more precise and consistent system responses, every element has been refined to contribute to a more focused and capable vehicle.”
Additionally, GWM says AT-1 will contribute to the company’s global technical knowledge base and influence future product developments worldwide. This was supported by a “significant cohort” of the brand’s global engineering teams traveling to China to work directly with Mr Trubiani to optimize Australia’s localization program.
It’s not yet known which models will receive Australian suspension customization after the H6, but it’s possible that larger body-on-frame vehicles like the Tank 500 large SUV and Cannon ute will be next in line for GWM’s localization treatment.
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