A Chinese Tank is coming for your Toyota Land Cruiser: New Haval Tank 300 on the cards for Australia

Australia could soon have a new off-road contender to take on vehicles like the Toyota LandCruiser, Jeep Wrangler, Suzuki Jimny and Ford Ranger Raptor, with Chinese brand Haval actively studying Tank 300 for our market.

The brand this week told CarsGuide it was "looking at, and considering" the Tank for the Australian market, including undertaking customer research into the model, and its name.

"Tank 300 is a product we’re looking at, and considering. We haven’t made any decisions yet," the brand's spokesperson, Steve Maciver, told CarsGuide.

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"We have done some local customer research, and the results are being discussed with head office."

While the brand won't be drawn on the results of those studies, we suspect the Tank is drawing closer to a local debut, with the rough and tumble off-roader filling a hole in the brand's line-up.

So what would we get? The Tank 300 is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine paired with an eight-speed conventional automatic gearbox that produces around 170kW and 387Nm, but more likely is a bigger diesel donk that should generate close to 500Nm.

Reports out of China suggest a 375kW plug-in hybrid has also emerged. Pairing a twin-turbo V6 with an electric motor for a total 750Nm.

Also on board is low-range 4WD, diff locks, and more than 220mm in ground clearance. Adjustable suspension varies the ride height, while six drive modes unlock rear-wheel drive, 4WD high and low, and a rock-creep mode, while inside, a 12.3-inch dual-screen set-up handles tech and driving info duties.