Malaysia Recalls 8,878 Omoda 5s, but European Cars Use Different Axle

Malaysia is recalling 8,878 Omoda 5 SUVs over potentially weak welds in their torsion-beam rear axles, but European Omoda 5s bearing the same name use a different multi-link rear suspension. That distinction means the Malaysian defect does not directly describe the hardware installed in European cars, although it is not equivalent to a conclusive all-market clearance.

Chery set the Malaysian recall population on October 14, covering C- and H-variant vehicles and offering free inspections and component replacement where required. Malaysia’s road transport department, known as JPJ, ordered the company to identify every potentially affected vehicle through part numbers, production batches and vehicle identification numbers. The agency also plans a technical audit of the assembly operation and axle supplier, including manufacturing practices, quality controls and weld-inspection procedures.

One model name, two rear-suspension designs

The central difference is structural. Malaysian Omoda 5s included in the campaign have a torsion-beam rear suspension. Chery says welds on the beam’s trailing arms may not have sufficient strength and could rupture under extreme conditions. The company says that axle design has since been discontinued.

The Omoda 5 introduced in Europe in 2024 instead uses a multi-link rear suspension. That is not merely a trim adjustment or software calibration: it is a materially different arrangement of the components locating the rear wheels. European cars sold in Spain and Italy also paired a 197-horsepower, 1.6-liter turbocharged engine with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Malaysian vehicles were assembled from kits by Inokom in Kulim and used a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine with a continuously variable transmission.

Those differences illustrate why a common badge cannot establish mechanical equivalence across markets. Manufacturers can alter suspension layouts, engines, transmissions and local assembly arrangements while retaining the same model name. For owners trying to assess a recall, the relevant identifiers are therefore the market, build batch, vehicle identification number and installed component not the badge alone.

Why a trailing-arm weld matters

A torsion-beam suspension combines the two rear trailing arms through a transverse beam. During driving, the assembly must carry vehicle loads while reacting to wheel movement and forces from acceleration, braking and cornering. Its welded joints are consequently structural parts of the load path rather than cosmetic attachments.

If a required weld lacks strength and ruptures, the integrity of the larger axle assembly can be compromised. That provides the engineering basis for treating the concern as a safety issue and inspecting or replacing the component. It does not, however, establish the precise failure sequence in the latest reported Malaysian incident; the investigation and production audit remain important for determining what happened and how broadly the manufacturing condition extends.

Multi-link suspension should not be interpreted as inherently immune to weld or manufacturing defects. The narrower, supportable conclusion is that Europe’s Omoda 5 does not use the particular torsion-beam design implicated in Malaysia. Chery has been conducting precautionary checks on vehicles from the same 2023 production batch in China and other unnamed relevant markets, but it has not published those results or announced a corresponding axle recall outside Malaysia.

The earlier recall does not settle the new cause

This is the second Malaysian Omoda 5 rear-axle recall. After an axle beam broke in traffic on April 28, 2024, Chery recalled 600 cars equipped with beams manufactured during a four-day period from August 14 through August 17, 2023. The supplier attributed that defect to an automated welding machine receiving a new welding tip without being properly recalibrated.

That earlier finding offers a documented example of how a small process-control lapse can affect a safety-critical structure, but it cannot yet be assigned to the current case. Chery has not said that the latest failure had the same cause. JPJ’s planned review of the production line, supplier controls and weld inspection is therefore more than procedural follow-up: it must establish whether the latest concern is confined to particular batches or reflects a wider manufacturing condition.

Malaysia replaced the Omoda 5 with the Chery O5 in September 2025. The newer vehicle uses multi-link rear suspension and a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. For European owners, the different axle architecture is a meaningful boundary around the Malaysian recall not a blanket guarantee. For Malaysian owners, the decisive check remains whether the vehicle identification number and fitted axle place their SUV among the 8,878 cars called in for inspection.

By Robert McKinney — Editor-in-Chief for AMI’s automotive and mobility coverage, with a mechanical engineering background and a decade reporting on powertrain systems, EV innovation, and global vehicle manufacturing.