Chery Omoda 5 rear axle issue – chairman Yin Tongyue apologises for vehicle quality issues in Malaysia

Chery chairman and president Yin Tongyue has publicly apologised for the product quality issues in Chery vehicles in Malaysia, according to a video posted on Chinese site Sohu.

Yin addressed the matter at the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference (WICV) yesterday, October 21, acknowledging that Chery had encountered product quality issues in Malaysia, and had personally apologised to the Malaysian minister of investment, trade and industry earlier that day, he said.

Chery had taken immediate responsibility for its customers following the incident, Yin stated, and emphasised that that international expansion should not be about exploiting overseas markets, but establishing a strong and sustainable local presence.

Yin also stressed the need to remain humble and avoid excessive self-promotion or overconfidence when expanding internationally, as well as the importance of respecting local laws, regulations and business practices in overseas markets.

The carmaker’s chairman and president warned that expanding overseas without adequate preparation could ultimately lead to failure rather than success.

“We are not going overseas to reap quick profits, but to put down roots and cultivate these markets for the long term. We must respect local laws, regulations and business practices. Without proper preparation, going overseas could easily turn into a costly failure. Instead of expanding overseas, we could end up being buried there,” Yin said in his address.

Chery vehicle quality issues in Malaysia came under the spotlight most recently when a Chery Omoda 5 was depicted on social media with its rear axle detached from the vehicle.

The road transport department (JPJ) announced a temporary suspension on the Omoda 5’s vehicle type approval (VTA), thus halting registrations of the model until the technical investigation is concluded and safety risks are identified; Chery issued a statement the day after. On October 14, Chery announced updated details on the recall campaign, indicating that it involves a total of 8,878 Omoda 5 vehicles across both C and H variants.

The Omoda 5 is a discontinued model, having been replaced in September 2025 by the Chery O5 which uses different rear suspension in form of a multi-link layout, instead of the Omoda 5’s rear torsion beam.

Before the latest incident, two years ago another Omoda 5 also had its rear axle detach from the vehicle, and at the time Chery issued a recall for 600 units ahead of JPJ’s own recall and statement on the matter at the time.

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