GWM More Australian Than BYD? Lang Lang Move Changes the Debate

GWM has announced it has secured permanent residency at the Lang Lang Proving Ground (LLPG) in Victoria, a move aimed at strengthening its product localisation for the Australian and New Zealand markets.

The facility will serve as the brand’s key base for engineering and testing future vehicles under local conditions.

The Lang Lang facility, once operated by Holden, is now home to GWM’s ongoing engineering work to refine vehicle dynamics, comfort, and control for local conditions. GWM is the only original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to hold permanent residency at the site.

“With full-time access to Lang Lang now secured, this is far more than symbolic, it’s a statement of intent,” said John Kett, GWM COO ANZ.

“When Rob presented the idea of establishing Lang Lang as our home base for local development, it was met with overwhelming support, both locally and from our global leadership.”

This announcement follows the March appointment of Rob Trubiani, a veteran Australian automotive engineer, to lead GWM’s localisation efforts.

Trubiani brings over 25 years of experience developing vehicles for local roads, including extensive time working at Lang Lang during his tenure at Holden.

“Lang Lang is an iconic proving ground, one of the best in the world,” said Trubiani.

“It’s an absolute dream to be back, developing great cars specifically for Australian and New Zealand drivers.”

Trubiani noted the importance of LLPG’s unique capabilities in enabling precise vehicle dynamics testing.

“The intimate knowledge I have of the road network, combined with understanding the high-performance benchmarks required here, is key to ‘Aussifying’ our vehicles and ensuring what we develop here translates directly to real-world driving,” he said.

The long-term access will allow GWM to conduct more rigorous and iterative development under genuine Australian conditions.

According to the brand, this will help accelerate the refinement of existing models and support early-stage development of future vehicles for the region.

The announcement comes as competition in the local ute segment intensifies, particularly following BYD’s high-profile launch of the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid.

Promoted through an integrated campaign showcasing Australian landscapes, personalities, and taglines like “The Great White Shark” and “A Big Pond Needs a Big Fish,” BYD has positioned its ute as deeply connected to local culture.

GWM also confirmed that it will soon reveal outcomes from its current local development program, codenamed “AT1”, which showcases ride and handling upgrades influenced by local customer and dealer feedback.

The company indicated that learnings from this program are already being fed into potential future global vehicle platforms.