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Source | Yuan Auto

Author | Pan Zhuolun

At 23:00 on October 11, Chery Motors Weibo official account released a statement, stating that its Malaysia subsidiary will launch a recall for 8,878 OMODA 5 vehicles.

"This batch of vehicles may have insufficient welding strength at local welding positions of the rear axle longitudinal arm, with a risk of weld seam tearing in extreme situations." Chery Motors stated in the statement.

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At the same time, Chery Motors also stated that it will conduct risk checks on domestic and related market batches of OMODA 5 vehicles. Domestically, the corresponding model for OMODA 5 is Chery OMODA, which was first launched in 2022, but is currently in a halted sales state. Data shows that the cumulative sales of this car domestically are within 50,000 units.

This time, Chery Motors' response speed after encountering the automotive quality "black swan" event was so rapid, it can be called industry "ceiling" level. After all, the rumored OMODA 5 "wheel loss" incident occurred on October 6, and the car company official apologized and launched a recall in less than a week, which can be considered fulfilling the "big factory responsibility" that car companies always hang on their lips.

But in this, there is a key "plot", which Chery Motors did not mention, but should not be ignored.

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According to reports by authoritative Malaysian media, right on the 5th day when OMODA 5 was exposed to have quality problems locally, at noon on October 11, the Malaysian Land Transport Authority stated through a spokesperson that it would suspend new car registration for Chery OMODA 5.

"All vehicles identified to have risks must be recalled, inspected, and necessary remedial measures taken. JPJ will conduct a technical review of Chery OMODA 5's production line, including relevant parts suppliers." Malaysian Land Transport Authority spokesperson Datuk Aedy Fadly Ramli stated.

Of course, it is not that without supervision from relevant Malaysian departments, Chery Motors would "lie flat", but the former suspension of OMODA 5 new car registration and a series of operations obviously will still bring stronger urgency to Chery Motors and its Malaysia subsidiary.

However, it needs to be noted that it is not excluded that the treatment plan of relevant Malaysian departments on Chery Motors this time has a certain "making an example" component. According to public data, the Malaysian Land Transport Authority rarely suspends new car registration for a certain car model due to passenger car safety accidents, and local media also stated that this handling plan for OMODA 5, "is a rare action of JPJ".

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According to data from the Malaysian Automotive Association, Chery as a Chinese brand has currently become a sales dark horse in the local car market. Starting from July 2023 when it returned to the Malaysian market, Chery's sales steadily increased, achieving over 30,000 units by 2025, ranking high in the overall passenger car market, while OMODA 5 is the main vehicle for Chery to fight for sales against the two local brands Proton and Perodua.

Regardless, from regulatory bodies to producing car companies, if they can explain the situation to consumers efficiently, transparently, and comprehensively after vehicle quality problems appear, regardless of where in the world, it is worth a fierce thumbs up. After all, each car is composed of tens of thousands or even over 100,000 parts, requiring car companies to guarantee that no quality issues occur in all vehicles leaving the factory is not realistic.

And from the consumer's point of view, car companies should at least respond quickly and disclose relevant specific details when vehicles are identified to have potential quality problems, especially those large-scale common quality problems, recall if it needs to be recalled, OTA if it needs to be OTA. Unfortunately, the reality is that car companies that can achieve the above level are few and far between, some even with an attitude of "not shedding tears until seeing the coffin".

To change this state, perhaps it is a method for relevant departments to vigorously increase supervision intensity.

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