Chery Sales Indonesia (CSI) has announced a recall for 420 units of the Chery Omoda 5, to inspect the rear axle. This follows a similar announcement in Malaysia on 30-April, involving 600 locally assembled (CKD) Malaysian market cars produced at the Inokom plant in Kulim.

The 420 units recalled in Indonesia were locally assembled at contract manufacturer PT Handal Indonesia Motor’s plant in Bekasi.

Oddly, the announcement came two weeks after Chery Sales Indonesia's denial on 2-May 2024 that the rear axle detachment incident happened on a Malaysia-assembled unit in Malaysia affectets Indonesia market cars, explaining that Indonesian market cars are produced in Bekasi.

“Even though we (Chery Sales Indonesia) do exports, Malaysia is not our export destination. So, the matter is not related (to Indonesia)," said Chery Sales Indonesia to the Antara news agency two Thursdays ago.

However, Chery Sales Indonesia made a surprise U-turn yesterday, issuing a press statement saying, “Based on our investigations, the incident is extremely rare. However, for safety considerations, we have identified 420 units of Omoda 5 1.5T (Z and RZ) that could potentially be affected.”

The expansion of the recall to Indonesia suggests that the root cause of the problem lies not in assembly processes in Malaysia. Given Chery Malaysia’s low volume, the Inokom plant is unlikely to do any welding work for Chery, nor procure complex parts like a rear axle or suspension control arm from a local vendor.

The defective part most certainly came from China.

A previous press statement by Chery Malaysia on 4-May explained the root cause of the problem (without identifying the country of origin), “Following a comprehensive investigation, the vendor reported that the issue was due to a facility upgrade during which a worn-out tip of the automated welding machine was replaced by a new welding tip. The replacement of the new welding tip resulted in a miscalibration of the equipment.”

Chery Malaysia says 60 units were affected, but the company is expanding its coverage to inspect 600 vehicles. Owners of all 60 units that were most at risk have already been contacted as of 12-May 2024.

The Chery Omoda 5 is powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that makes 156 PS / 230 Nm. Drive is transferred to the front wheels via a CVT-type automatic transmission.

Prices start from RM 108,800 for the C variant, and RM 118,800 for the H variant.