GWM Cannon Alpha output hit by seat parts shortage, Australian supply impact unclear

Production of the GWM Cannon Alpha has been disrupted by a shortage of seat components, and GWM's Australian arm says it does not yet know what that means for local supply. A GWM Australia spokesperson told CarExpert the company had been advised of "a component shortage affecting the seats of the Cannon Alpha" and was working with its global production team to understand the impact on future supply and timing.

The shortage is understood to affect both the diesel and plug-in hybrid versions of the dual-cab ute. Which specific seat part is short has not been disclosed.

The part in question

GWM has not named the seat component involved, so the exact cause of the interruption is not public. What is known is that the Cannon Alpha's front seats are not shared with any other GWM model sold in Australia, and even the related Tank 500 large SUV uses different front seats. That makes the Alpha's seat supply a single point of failure rather than something GWM can spread across several models.

Dealer stock and a forecast from an accessory seller

GWM Australia says it still has Cannon Alpha stock on the ground locally, though it has not given an exact figure.

Forbidden Gearhouse, an Australian firm that sells accessories for GWM vehicles, said in a Facebook post that "production of the Cannon Alpha 3.0L [is] coming to a halt". The company claims current Australian stock may be all that is available until late March or early April 2027, with the possibility of a handful of utes arriving next month, but in single digits. Those figures are the accessory seller's assessment rather than a confirmed GWM position.

A new diesel only months old

The timing is awkward for GWM. The Cannon Alpha received a new 3.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder, shared with the Tank 500, in September 2026. It joined the PHEV variant that launched in Australia in 2025 as a replacement for the regular hybrid, and the larger diesel replaced the previous 2.4-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder. In Australia the 3.0-litre is offered only in the Cannon Alpha and the Tank 500. A supply interruption now lands just as the newer diesel is settling into showrooms.

Sales figures are reported as a combined total

GWM began reporting Cannon and Cannon Alpha sales together in monthly VFACTS reports from January 2026, so there is no published split between the two utes. To the end of October, GWM had delivered 8764 vehicles across the combined range, a tally that excludes 4x2 versions of the Cannon, of which 677 were delivered year-to-date. The Cannon Alpha itself is the larger, more luxurious dual-cab ute that launched in Australia in 2024.

Because the two models are counted as one line, buyers and dealers have no official read on how much of that 8764 is Alpha volume, which makes the seat shortage harder to size from the outside. Both utes are now available with the same PHEV powertrain, but only the Alpha and Tank 500 get the 3.0-litre diesel in Australia.

Tesla will keep building the Cybertruck until the end of summer 2027, extending a production run that had been due to finish in the middle of next year so the company can work through more of its order backlog. CEO Elon Musk announced the extension in a post on X on Wednesday.

Musk had said last week that the stainless-steel pickup would be discontinued around the middle of 2027 to free up space at Tesla's Texas factory for production of steering wheel-free Cybercabs, later clarifying that the truck would be built for eight more months, pointing to a July 2027 end date. The new schedule pushes that out to roughly September, giving the Cybertruck about a 10-month runway.

Musk admits the call is not profit-driven

In the same X post, Musk wrote that extending the run "is not the smartest move from a profit-maximizing standpoint btw, but there must be some room in this world for sentimentality or what's the point?"

The extension follows a backlash from Cybertruck loyalists after the cancellation was announced. More than 5,000 people have signed a petition to keep the truck in production, and Unplugged Performance, which makes Tesla accessories, says it is trying to get investors on board to take over Cybertruck production from Tesla.

That reaction helps explain the reversal. A model that drew attention out of all proportion to its sales has a small but unusually committed owner base, and Tesla appears to be buying goodwill with a few extra months of output rather than chasing volume.

A polarising truck with modest sales

Musk once targeted annual output of 250,000 Cybertrucks, a figure that would have made it a top seller in the pickup market. Industry estimates put actual sales at around 70,000 since deliveries began at the end of 2023.

The gap between the two numbers is the story of the truck. Tesla built a factory line around a volume target it never approached, and the end of production is now being managed around orders already placed rather than new demand.

Only the Cyberbeast is left, at $110,000

Since announcing the cancellation, Tesla has made the tri-motor Cyberbeast the only Cybertruck variant available and raised its price to $110,000. Buyers who want a Cybertruck in its final months therefore have one choice of specification and a higher price to pay.

The price is in US dollars, the market where the Cybertruck is sold; Tesla has not announced Australian availability or pricing for the truck.

Deposits and the Texas line

Musk had previously said Tesla would have to return some deposits because it would not be able to deliver every truck customers had ordered before production closed. The extension is intended to shrink that shortfall by building more of the backlog, but Tesla has not said how many deposits will still need to be refunded, or whether any remain outstanding at all.

What happens to the Texas factory line once Cybertruck production ends has also not been detailed beyond the reason given for the wind-down: making room for Cybercab output at the site. Tesla has not said how the freed capacity will be reallocated or converted.