Rear Wheels Detach Directly on the Road, Domestic Car Exports Cannot Afford to Squander Reputation

A Chinese brand SUV driving normally detached its rear axle and two rear wheels directly from the body while driving on the road. This incident occurred on October 6 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, involving a Chery Omoda 5. Fortunately, no casualties resulted from this accident, but the footage was shocking, and it is worth all those concerned about Chinese cars going global to sit down and think carefully.

After the incident was exposed, the local Land Transport Authority intervened and suspended new vehicle registration for this model. On the evening of October 11, Chery officials released a situation explanation. The investigation concluded that the partial welding strength of the rear axle longitudinal arms of this batch of 2023 model Omoda 5 was insufficient, and weld seams would tear under extreme operating conditions. The official announcement stated that a recall would be launched for 8,878 affected vehicles in the Malaysian market, involving free inspections and part replacements when necessary. Simultaneously, risk checks are being conducted for domestic and other overseas vehicles from the same batch.

Friends familiar with Chery know that recently Chery has been intensively adjusting senior executives. Zhang Guibing took up a new post, taking charge of globalization and domestic business. Many people hope personnel adjustments can save the decline in domestic market sales. But as an automotive media person, I would like to say a straightforward truth: changing the person in charge cannot solve the fundamental problem.

High-level rotation and organizational structure adjustments can only optimize management. Consumers never buy a list of executives, but rather tangible products and stable, reliable manufacturing quality control.

Looking back at the domestic market, Chery's performance in the past year was not ideal. Domestic terminal sales performance was average, and the pace of progress in the new energy sector was obviously lagging behind competitors. Many models had weak market presence, marketing strategies were relatively conservative, and user reputation feedback was mixed. The overseas market was originally one of Chery's few advantageous bases; if overseas quality control is lost again, it is equivalent to pressure on both domestic and international fronts simultaneously.

In recent years, as Chinese new energy vehicles broke through, we secured a significant position in the global race, with Chery being the main force behind domestic independent brand exports. Going global is not simply about selling cars abroad to achieve success. What we are exporting is the reputation of Chinese manufacturing and the standards of Chinese automobiles.

We must never let 'export vehicle standards lower than domestic' appear, nor can we treat the overseas market as a trial field for tolerance. Once safety-related quality defects are continuously exposed overseas, it will damage not just the Chery brand, but the trust painstakingly accumulated by all Chinese automobiles overseas.

We sincerely hope Chinese cars travel across the globe and are recognized by the world. This confidence does not rely on personnel changes or marketing rhetoric; it relies on welding every seam well and holding the bottom line of quality control.

The glory of going global is not easily won; never consume everyone's trust in Chinese automobiles due to loss of quality control.