Yes, sometimes carmakers do listen. After a lot of media and customer feedback about the overzealous nature of its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), GWM has announced it's made significant revisions to the way they work.
The changes will be implemented for 2025 production of the Tank 500 SUV and closely related Cannon Alpha ute. They will also be applied to existing customer cars, although this must be done physically rather than as an over-the-air (OTA) update. GWM New Zealand says owners will be contacted in the new year to make an appointment with their nearest dealership.
What's changed? The driver monitoring system (DMS, which uses a small camera on the A-pillar), whose incessant alerts could indeed drive you to distraction, no longer defaults to on; instead, it retains the previous setting when the car is restarted. The DMS fatigue alert has been changed from "please take a break" to a simple alert sound.
The emergency lane keep (ELK) master control can now be accessed with a swipe down (like a mobile phone) on the infotainment screen. It has been retuned to better recognise "local road scenarios" and the visual alert has been changed to a less intrusive lane-flash graphic.
The adaptive cruise control (ACC) "intelligent corner" function has been recalibrated to address complaints that the car slows down too much in bends. And the car is now quicker to accelerate under ACC operation, meaning the gap to the car in front stays more consistent.
ADAS aside, hybrid models now have sharper throttle response to combat the sluggish feel from standstill and "rev hang", which resulted in a feeling of a sticky throttle when lifting off after brisk acceleration, has been lowered and regen increased (which also helps slow the car). Sport mode has also been sharpened on hybrid models.
Finally, the Cannon Alpha ute has gained a tow hitch guideline on the reversing camera display.