Chery Malaysia Recalls 8,878 OMODA 5 Vehicles

[Auto Industry Insider] On the evening of October 11, Chery Auto released the "Explanation Regarding the OMODA 5 Vehicle Issue in Malaysia", announcing a recall for the 8,878 affected OMODA 5 vehicles in the Malaysian market, to inspect relevant parts and replace them free of charge where necessary, and to conduct special risk investigations on vehicle batches from China and related markets.

The "Explanation" states that this vehicle issue does not involve personal injury, Chery has immediately launched an investigation into the cause, and is actively communicating closely with local government regulatory bodies such as the Malaysian Land Transport Authority (JPJ).

On October 14, Chery Auto published "Chery Malaysia OMODA 5 Recall Action Customer Guidance" on its Malaysian official website: the first batch of spare parts has been shipped and will arrive at authorized service centers successively; the relevant vehicle list has been locked, and vehicle owners will be arranged to visit the store for replacement via active invitation.

1. Timeline

2. Both Failures Point to the Welding Process

According to reports by Every Economic Daily, the cause of the two rear axle-related failures points to the component welding process.

An expert from the welding technology section of a joint-venture brand explained the technical logic to the reporter:

"The component of the rear axle long arm is mostly a stamped sheet metal lap structure. Considering this issue, OEMs often adopt spot welding processes, but spot welding processes are prone to insufficient welding strength themselves."

An frontline employee at a joint-venture car factory stated:

"If virtual welding, missed welding, or welding defects occur during the welding process, safety hazards are likely to arise later."

The same report mentioned that currently the welding processes at OEMs are mainly spot welding and laser welding. In comparison, laser welding is fast, has less deformation, high strength, but higher cost — the aforementioned welding technology section expert stated, "A set of laser welding equipment costs about 2 million yuan more than spot welding."

The expert also introduced that to improve welding safety, the industry will increase welding connection processes that ensure strength, for example, the base number of body weld points reaches 7,000 to 13,000; new models will adopt laser cutting and welding processes, improving strength by over 30% compared to traditional spot welding processes.

3. The Weight of OMODA 5 in Malaysia

· Overseas Proportion: Currently, Chery Auto's overseas sales account for more than 70% of its total sales, Malaysia is one of its important global markets

· Local Scale: After returning to Malaysia in 2023, models such as OMODA 5 were launched successively; cumulative sales were about 30,000 units by the end of 2025; as of June 2026 it has 60 dealerships, imported 10 vehicle models

· ⭐ Model Status: Chery Auto's Malaysian official website published an article earlier this year stating:

"The key to Chery's success in Malaysia lies in OMODA 5 (launched in 2023), this model quickly became Chery's best-performing model, and played an important role in Chery establishing itself in the automotive market."

4. ⚠️ An Unconfirmed Situation

According to reports, JPJ has not yet further announced the technical investigation results of this vehicle issue. Media reports suggest that JPJ has temporarily suspended OMODA 5 vehicle certification (VTA), and the model cannot be registered or sold as a new vehicle before the technical investigation is completed.

Some media sought confirmation from Chery Auto regarding this, but as of the time of publication no response has been received. Therefore, the "Suspend VTA" item remains media wording, not yet officially confirmed by Chery or JPJ.

My View: The Key is Not 8,878 Units, but the "Second Time"

Core Judgment: What is truly worth noting about this recall is not the number 8,878, but that it is the second time. In 2024, the same part had the same problem, at that time Chery's explanation was welding equipment calibration deviation, the inspection scope was 600 units. Two years later, same in the welding process, same rear axle, the recall scope has changed to 8,878 units. This change indicates: the first disposal solved "that batch", but did not solve "that process".

First, let's look at the scope of the two disposals together. In April 2024, Chery identified 60 vehicles equipped with affected rear axle components, expanding the preventive inspection to 600 units, covering cars produced on these four days from August 14 to 17, 2023. In October 2026, the recall quantity is 8,878 units.

→ From 600 to 8,878 units, the scope has expanded by about 15 times. ⚠️ It needs to be noted that the scope definition of these two times is not fully comparable — 2024 was "inspection", this time is "recall replacement", statistical definitions differ. But the direction is clear: the vehicles identified this time as requiring processing far exceed the first investigation scope.

→ The difference in judgment behind this is important. If the problem only occurred in batches produced on certain days, then processing the batch is enough; if the problem lies in the capability boundary of the process itself, then cars outside the batch are also exposed to the same risk. The number 8,878 indicates that Chery is handling this based on the latter.

Second, ⭐ And the explanation from third-party experts exactly explains why such problems tend to repeat. Rear axle long arms are mostly stamped sheet metal lap structures, spot welding is commonly used in the industry — and spot welding itself is prone to insufficient welding strength. This is a process characteristic, not an occasional operational error.

→ This brings a structural difficulty: Insufficient strength of spot welding is probabilistic, not inevitable. Same line, same process, the vast majority of cars are fine, a few cars fail under specific conditions. So "inspecting this batch" is logically invalid — you cannot find those cars that "will crack in the future" through inspection, because they all look qualified when leaving the factory.

→ There are only two real solutions: Either change the process (switch to laser welding or laser cutting welding), or add inspection methods (pre-weld addressing, laser cleaning, real-time welding parameter monitoring, post-weld 2D/3D visual scanning). The industry practice mentioned in the report is exactly this direction — full-process visual inspection plus current voltage real-time monitoring. And all of this requires equipment investment, a laser welding set costs about 2 million yuan more than spot welding.

Third, ⭐ But we must speak fairly, Chery's response this time is not slow, and there is one proactive move worth noting. Incident occurred on October 6, explanatory statement released and recall announced on October 11, customer guidance issued on October 14, first batch of spare parts shipped, vehicle list locked and active invitation to store — from incident to execution action, five days.

→ More noteworthy is the phrase "Conduct special risk investigation on vehicle batches from China and related markets". This item is proactive expansion of scope, not passive response — it means Chery did not treat this as a "local Malaysian issue" to handle. For an enterprise where overseas sales account for more than 70%, the cost of this action is not low, but it exchanges for the possibility of "not letting the same problem happen again in other markets".

→ From this perspective, what is truly worth observing in this event is not the scale of the recall, but whether this investigation will truly clarify the "process" layer. If investigated, then 8,878 units are a correction with significant cost but effective; if it is just processing another batch, then the 2024 situation will happen again.

Fourth, ⚠️ And the current uncertainty makes the weight of this matter exceed 8,878 units. According to reports, JPJ has not yet announced the technical investigation results, at the same time media claim JPJ has suspended OMODA 5 vehicle certification (VTA), no new car registration or sales before investigation completion — this item has not yet been officially confirmed by Chery or JPJ.

→ If this item holds, then the impact is not just the replacement cost of 8,878 vehicles. VTA is a market access qualification, suspension means before the investigation ends, this car cannot sell new cars or register in Malaysia. And OMODA 5 is exactly what Chery itself recognizes on the official website as the "key model for establishing itself in Malaysia".

→ ⚠️ Need to say restrainedly: whether vehicle certification is truly suspended, how long suspended, what is the investigation conclusion, currently there is no official conclusion. Drawing any conclusion on Chery's Malaysia business at this stage is premature — but it is clear that this is no longer a simple after-sales recall, but a regulatory event involving market access.

Three Verifiable Checkpoints: ① JPJ's technical investigation conclusion and OMODA 5 vehicle certification (VTA) status — this is the key to judging the nature of the event, also the only official wording that can determine the nature; ② Results of special investigation on vehicle batches from China and related markets — if recall is needed domestically after investigation, it indicates the problem scope exceeds Malaysia; if investigation conclusion is no impact, then need to see the technical basis it provides; ③ Actual replacement completion rate and time consumption of 8,878 units — the value of the recall commitment is ultimately reflected in execution, not on the announcement.

Conclusion

On October 11, Chery Auto released the "Explanation Regarding the OMODA 5 Vehicle Issue in Malaysia", announcing a recall for the 8,878 affected OMODA 5 vehicles in the Malaysian market, inspect relevant parts and replace them free of charge where necessary, while conducting special risk investigation on vehicle batches from China and related markets. The cause was a rear axle failure of a 2023 OMODA 5 in Johor Bahru, Johor on October 6, rear axle and suspension assembly separated from the body along with two rear wheels. On October 14, Chery Malaysia released customer guidance, stating the first batch of spare parts has been shipped, vehicle list locked and active invitation to store. According to media reports, this model was investigated for similar problems in 2024, at that time it was explained as welding equipment calibration deviation, inspection scope 600 units.

One point worth remembering is: the key is not the number 8,878, but that it happened a second time — both point to the welding process. Insufficient strength of spot welding is probabilistic, "inspecting a certain batch" is logically difficult to work: they all look qualified when leaving the factory. Chery's response this time is not slow, and proactively expanded investigation to other markets; but whether it can be concluded, depends on whether the technical investigation clarifies the "process" layer, not just processing another batch.