Denza B5 vs GWM Tank 500

On the raw numbers the Tank 500 wins. The Vanta hybrid opens at $75,990 driveaway against $82,138 for the base B5 as of August 2026, its warranty runs seven years with no kilometre cap against six years and 150,000km, and five years of scheduled servicing costs $2,000 against $3,220. The B5's answer is what the money buys: every grade gets the full 400kW plug-in drivetrain, leather, a head-up display and the bigger 15.6-inch screen, kit the Tank spreads across its range. If value means the lowest total spend, take the Tank. If it means the most car per dollar, the B5's case is strong.

The B5, mostly because it commits. Both of its grades pair a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine with two motors for 400kW and 760Nm, a claimed 90km of WLTC electric range and a claimed 3.9L/100km combined once the battery is in play. It charges at 11kW on AC and up to 100kW on DC. The Tank 500's Ultra Hi4-T is a genuine rival at $79,990 driveaway as of August 2026, with 300kW, 750Nm and a claimed 2.1L/100km on its own combined cycle, but it is one grade, not the range, and its battery evicts the third row. Treat the economy claims as lab-cycle figures, not a like-for-like ranking, because the two brands quote different test cycles.

This is the cleanest split on the page. Every Denza B5 is a five-seater. The Tank 500 Vanta hybrid seats seven, which is the configuration most family buyers cross-shopping a Prado or Everest actually need, and its 795-litre boot with the second row up swallows a family load. Choose the Tank's Ultra plug-in hybrid, though, and the 37.11kWh battery takes the third row with it, leaving five seats and 640 litres. So the real question is not which badge, it is whether you need seven seats and a plug at the same time, because neither car offers both.

On paper it is a dead heat: 3,000kg braked and 750kg unbraked each, both 500kg shy of the 3,500kg diesel benchmark. The difference is what is left over. The Tank 500 carries a 790kg payload and a 6,705kg gross combination mass against the B5's 600kg and 6,122kg, so with a heavy van on the ball the Tank keeps meaningfully more headroom for passengers and gear. The B5's near-2.9-tonne kerb weight is the culprit. If you tow near the limit and load the cabin at the same time, the Tank's maths is friendlier.

Both wear five ANCAP stars, so the difference lives in the detail. The B5 was tested in 2025 against the newer protocol and scored 86 per cent for adult occupants, 95 per cent for children and 78 per cent for safety assist, and it carries eleven airbags. The Tank 500's 2024 rating reads 85, 93 and 74 on the same measures with seven airbags, though it hits back on vulnerable road user protection, 81 per cent to the B5's 74. On the published scores the B5 takes it, narrowly. One shared caveat from Australian road testers: both brands' driver aids can be eager, so judge the calibration on a test drive.

They get there differently. The Tank 500 is the traditionalist: a proper dual-range transfer case, front, centre and rear diff locks, crawl control and an 800mm wading depth. The B5 skips a mechanical low range, instead pairing front and rear lockers with terrain modes and letting its 760Nm of instant electric torque do the crawling. Its geometry is the sharper of the two, a 35-degree approach and 32-degree departure against the Tank's 30 and 24, though the Tank wades 100mm deeper. Both clear 220mm. For technical, low-speed work the Tank's hardware is the safer bet; for the way most owners tour, the B5 gives up less than the spec sheet suggests.

GWM covers the Tank 500 for seven years with no kilometre cap. Five years of capped-price servicing totals about $2,000 at 12-month or 15,000km intervals, on August 2026 pricing. Denza's cover is six years or 150,000km, with servicing at $3,220 over five years, though its intervals stretch further at 20,000km and the plug-in battery gets its own eight-year, 160,000km warranty. High-kilometre drivers should note the Tank's unlimited-distance cover is the rarer commodity. Day-to-day running costs then hinge on charging: plugged in nightly, either plug-in hybrid can shift most commuting onto electricity. On cover and servicing cost the Tank takes it; the B5's consolation is fewer workshop visits and the longer battery warranty.

If your brief is heavy touring and maximum towing, it might be worth the wait. GWM has confirmed a 3.0-litre turbo diesel Tank 500 for Australia around September 2026, and the local press reports a 3,500kg braked rating for it, which would close the Tank's biggest gap against the diesel establishment. It is expressions-of-interest only for now, with no confirmed pricing, so this page compares only the cars you can buy today. What the announcement does signal is that the current hybrid lineup is mid-transition, which partly explains the run-out pricing on the Vanta.

Match the car to the job. A family that needs seven seats, the bigger boot and the longest warranty should buy the Tank 500 Vanta while run-out stock lasts, and it is the stronger tow-and-carry car too. A buyer who wants to run electric every day should buy the B5, because both of its grades plug in, charge at up to 100kW and carry the cabin Australian launch reviews rate more highly, where the Tank asks you to give up the third row for the same trick. The brand-wary should weigh the Tank's December 2025 high-voltage harness recall against the B5's shorter track record, then drive both, because the driver-assist tuning on each is a matter of taste.