Chery Omoda 5’s VTA suspension: How PR failed the Rakyat while trying to protect the brands

JPJ suspends Chery’s vehicle type approval or VTA for Chery’s Omoda 5. Which means you cannot register another Omoda 5 in the country any more. This was in light of the recent case where a Chery Omoda 5 experienced a catastrophic rear axle failure while driving, which saw the vehicle s axle snap clean off while driving.

PR departments prefer silence

When things go sideways, this is usually the go to MO for most PR departments in the automotive brand and the supporting agencies. Those who wish to question get blacklisted or ostracized. In the last 12 years Route Hunters have always challenged the status quo by questioning brands on behalf of not just our audience, but the Rakyat too. We question to get the truth and to make sure brands do not skip their responsibilities.

We questioned Chery Malaysia’s management from day 1 when they causally tossed Puspakom’s name as a valid certification of their vehicles performance. This would escalate to a point where Puspakom had to directly respond to the issue quoting our article. We criticised Chery Malaysia managements sheer carelessness to use a regulatory body like Puspakom’s testing standard as a standard to their products performance. The PR team also maintained utter silence when questioned about the incident, sparing absolutely no information on any of our queries. This nonchalant attitude has cost them dearly 2 years later.

This is not a targeted attack, its the bare minimum of what a responsible automotive media outlet is suppose to do.

## Whats the difference between Media, KOL and Influencers?

Influencers are the hype people, they are the ones who bring exposure to a certain brand and product. Influencers will showcase a brand but they may not necessarily know what they are promoting. They may not have product knowledge, understanding or in depth info. They are all about introducing said brand / product to their viewers.

KOL’s are the ones who form the opinion on the products. They may have some or major understanding of a product. But they are there to produce opinion about it. Since its an opinion, they cant be held fully accountable as what works for them might not work for you.

Media on the other hand carry the biggest weight. Whatever published under a media portal has to be accountable. Facts have to be verified, statements have to carry evidence, clarification has to be precise. No hearsay, no guesswork. At Route Hunters, our editorial team is not made of journalist graduates, we are all engineers. We pride ourselves in deep diving into technology and humanising it to our audience so even the least technically savvy reader / viewer will be able to appreciate the tech they have bought.

Which is why we go all the way

In the past we questioned why Honda Malaysia priced the previous generation Civic FC’s rear brake pads, a vital wear and tear component, at an exorbitant price. Based on our verified data from various brands and service centres, the rear brake pads of this sub RM150k car cost MORE than the rear brake pads of a brand new Jaguar XF, which cost almost half a million ringgit. The email from Honda specifically claimed it was ‘competitively priced’. Such a significant detail in the ownership experience cannot go unmentioned to the buying public.

When the Mercedes Benz S580e was launched in St Regis, we were awestruck by the cars opulence, and the amount of kit that came with the car. Especially for the price. But one glaring problem stood out like a sore thumb. Cramming in a turbo engine along with the then biggest battery pack on a PHEV is bound to be a recipe for disaster in our countries erratic weather. While you cant do much in terms of design changes for the local market, setting up response teams, or special climatisation package would have been a valid response that would prove the brand was thinking about its clients. But our queries, after months of follow ups, were met with absolute silence and eventually an outright “we have nothing in place yet” response. Our concerns would be proven right when multiple S580 owners had experience vehicle failures which in one way or another lead to the very concern we were querying about.

The price we paid

The people benefit from seeing the true picture behind the PR gloss. But the price we paid was getting ‘blacklisted’. Honda Malaysia has never provided us a media car, citing reasons which to us sound like absolute rubbish. Mercedes Benz would not so much send a press release to our emails anymore.

Those who are from whichever brands we rubbed the wrong way would go on to other PR agencies or brands and continue the hostile reception towards Route Hunters Malaysia. We were the strongest advocates for Peugeot and Citroen cars in Malaysia. We would be the first to use the words ‘reliable’ and ‘Peugeot’ in the same sentence, with data to prove it. Yet Stellantis never even had us on their email list because of some individuals prerogative. We wonder if it was coincidental that the decade plus brand building Peugeot’s previous brand owners did vanished within the span of a year because of such attitude?

This selectiveness is the reason my of our fellow media outlets are unable to report the whole truth, fearing the repercussions from the brands. Its their livelihood, and they cannot afford to antagonise any brands, let alone the major ones. Therefore they report selectively omitting the elephant in the room.

Public Relations, Public is the key word

Sweeping under the carpet will eventually cause you to stumble over the very mess you created. The bigger the mound, the harder the fall. PR reps, departments have only one JD. To communicate to the public. Media publications are the bridge to the public. When a media asks a question its the responsibility of the PR agency / PR department of the brand to respond.

Staying silent may buy you the short term win. But god forbid if theres a legit issue being swept under the carpet, its just a matter of time before things explode on their faces. At that time, any amount of damage control will be too little too late.

In Conclusion

Route Hunters has never been afraid of any blacklist threats. We have taken cases up on behalf of our community members, some even escalated to legal actions. We have won against big names, and its never our first rodeo. We understand the industry from all sides, as our team features personnel who have worked in every aspect of this space.

We will continue questioning brands on their product, not for us, not for our community members, but as a Malaysian media publication for the Malaysian people.