Malaysia suspends sale of Chery Omoda 5 after viral incident; Singapore cars not affected

SINGAPORE – Malaysia’s Road Transport Department, or Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ), has suspended new registrations of the Omoda 5 car from China carmaker Chery.

In a statement on Oct 11, JPJ said the vehicle’s type approval – the technical certification needed for a car to be registered for road use – has been temporarily rescinded, and it is conducting a technical investigation of the model, its production and suppliers.

The C and H variants of the Omoda 5 were recalled by Chery Auto Malaysia on Oct 11. It said that customers will receive “comprehensive vehicle inspections and any necessary follow-up action”, including component replacement.

The suspension follows a dramatic incident in Johor Bahru on Oct 6, where an Omoda 5 near Aeon Mall Tebrau City lost its entire rear suspension assembly with both wheels still attached.

Two recalls in two years

Hal Serudin of automotive consultancy Lampaki Consulting said: “This looks to be a serious incident, the second of its kind, where the manufacturer is now taken to task by JPJ.”

“The history and sequence of events suggests that the safety and communications processes need to be improved. In some markets, such as Australia, manufacturers know to initiate a voluntary recall when they discover a fault,” he added.

This is the second recall of the Omoda 5 in as many years.

In May 2024, Chery recalled some 600 units of the car due to the same issue – potential rear suspension and axle failure – again following an incident where an Omoda 5 lost its rear wheels while driving.

Some 60 units were affected and had their components replaced, and the recall was closed in June 2024.

The issue was traced to incomplete welds on the components arising from equipment miscalibration.

The model was updated in September 2025 with a new rear suspension assembly featuring a multi-link unit in place of the old torsion beam component.

It is not clear if the current recall is due to a new issue or older, pre-update cars that did not receive the update.

Singapore’s Omodas not affected

The Omoda 5 is a mid-sized sport utility vehicle with a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine. It is assembled in Malaysia by Inokom in Kedah.

Singapore is not affected by the recall as the Omoda 5 is not sold in the Republic.

A model from the same family, the E5, is available. However, it is the fully electric version and its multi-link suspension assembly is different from the Omoda 5’s.

According to Vertex Automobile, authorised distributor of Omoda and Jaecoo, all the Chery models sold in Singapore are manufactured in China. THE BUSINESS TIMES