Two rear wheels fall off Chinese SUV mid-drive, raising safety concerns

Both rear wheels of a sport utility vehicle fell off simultaneously while it was being driven in Malaysia, in an accident involving a model made by China's Chery Automobile. The incident has amplified concerns about the safety of Chinese-made vehicles, particularly after reports emerged that similar accidents had occurred in the past.

According to local media including the Malay Mail, Chery's Malaysian unit announced a recall of 8,878 units of the 2023 Omoda 5 sold in the country following an incident in which the rear axle separated from the vehicle while in motion.

The accident occurred Monday in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, when the rear axle of a 2023 Omoda 5 broke away from the vehicle along with both rear wheels while the car was traveling on a road. No injuries were reported, but footage of the incident spread widely on social media, putting the safety of Chinese-made cars under scrutiny.

Following the accident, Malaysia's Road Transport Department suspended vehicle type approval and new vehicle registration for the model. The department also plans to conduct a technical audit of the vehicle's production assembly line and the supplier of the rear axle components. Authorities said the suspension will only be lifted once they are satisfied that the safety risk has been sufficiently addressed.

Chery issued an apology Sunday and announced a recall plan for the model, saying it would carry out parts inspections and provide free replacements. The company also said it would inspect vehicles produced on the same assembly line that were sold in China and other overseas markets.

Through its own investigation, the company identified insufficient weld strength in the trailing arm section of the rear axle as the cause of the accident, saying the weld could fail while the vehicle is in motion.

However, Chery said "the model that used this design has already been discontinued."

This is not the first such incident. The Omoda 5 was involved in a rear axle failure in April 2024, shortly after its launch in Malaysia. At the time, authorities recalled about 600 units for inspection and replaced the rear axles on 60 vehicles found to have the defective component.

The recurrence of a similar problem in the same area of the vehicle has made it difficult for the company to avoid criticism over whether the earlier measures were adequate.

Meanwhile, questions about the quality of Chinese-made vehicles have been raised repeatedly. Most recently, a video circulated online showing the brake pedal snapping on three units of Huawei's Maestro V800 — a luxury electric vehicle priced at around 200 million won ($149,000) — during emergency braking tests.

The manufacturer said the test conditions differed from normal driving environments, but added that it would improve the component design and offer free replacements to existing customers.