Latest / Drive with John Perlman / Due to safety flaws, Chery, Omoda, and Tiggo recalled more than 23,000 cars

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Due to safety flaws, Chery, Omoda, and Tiggo recalled more than 23,000 cars · Drive with John Perlman

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Drive home with John Perlman. On 702, let's walk the talk.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Right, let's focus on that vehicle recall story. There are
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: three makes of vehicles. In fact, three specific cars that
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: are in the recall. The Chery Tiggo 4, the Omoda C5,
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  Speaker 2: and the Tiggo 8 Pro Max 2.0. The bulk of
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: these vehicles that have been recalled. 17,000 Tiggo 4 vehicles recalled.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Sold between October 2023 and March 2024. Let's get into
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  Speaker 2: the nature of the recall and how it came about.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Welcome to 702 Drive. Prudence Mwilwa, who is Head of
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  Speaker 2: Division for Complaints and Investigation at the National Consumer Commission. Ms. Mwilwa,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: welcome and thanks very much for giving us your time.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: These seem to be quite serious. I mean, I get
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  Speaker 2: that every recall is serious, but would it be fair
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  Speaker 2: to say the potential safety implications, given that they involve
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: rear suspension and axle on the one hand, brake problems
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  Speaker 2: on the other, that the potential safety risks of this
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  Speaker 2: are a lot higher?
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  Speaker 1: Correct.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's why when we got the notice today,
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  Speaker 3: we decided to communicate on the same day. Because as
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  Speaker 3: a commission, we view these risks as very serious and also,
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  Speaker 3: as you can see, this has also a potential of
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  Speaker 3: affecting other cars on the road. Right.
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  Speaker 1: No, absolutely. Now, I understand it. I'm just looking at.
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  Speaker 2: Some of the background on this, that you're investigating, Cherry,
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  Speaker 2: over allegations that previous vehicle recalls were conducted without notifying
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  Speaker 2: the commission. Is that a legal obligation, that if you
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  Speaker 2: do a recall, you have to consult the commission, or
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  Speaker 2: is it simply best practice?
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  Speaker 3: It is a legal requirement, Dr. John. In fact, there
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  Speaker 3: are certain companies that are also being investigated currently for
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  Speaker 3: doing what we call silent recalls. The importance of this, Dr. John,
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  Speaker 3: is that we have a responsibility as a commission to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that the market is kept safe. Vehicles, whatever
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  Speaker 3: product that is in the market, the commission has a
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  Speaker 3: responsibility to to ensure that these recalls, we monitor them
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  Speaker 3: and we make sure that whatever interventions that are being
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  Speaker 3: put in place are actually not only improving but taking
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  Speaker 3: care or mitigating the risks themselves. So what we do
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  Speaker 3: is not just communicate. We have to be updated, number one.
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  Speaker 3: Number two, we have to also monitor the recall itself.
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  Speaker 3: In the event where we don't do that, we also
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  Speaker 3: will be failing in our duties.
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  Speaker 2: I want to ask you, you said you're looking at
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  Speaker 2: other companies who've done silent recalls.
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  Speaker 1: Can you name them? Or is there a legal constraint
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  Speaker 1: on that?
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  Speaker 2: I would have thought if you can name them, it
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  Speaker 2: would be good if you could, because that would certainly
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  Speaker 2: amplify the role that you play of letting people know.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think in some, it's, you know, suspicions. With Sherry... Already,
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  Speaker 3: I think there have been certain discussions on public platforms
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  Speaker 3: where they've also responded to certain media outlets about it.
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  Speaker 3: But I think on this one, we can safely say
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  Speaker 3: that we have actually received a complaint. Even though it
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  Speaker 3: was anonymous, they actually gave information that was serious enough
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  Speaker 3: for us to follow up with an investigation from October.
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  Speaker 3: So we are able to talk about this. And also
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  Speaker 3: part of the engagement is through this investigation was to
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  Speaker 3: also check whether there are other recalls that have been conducted,
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  Speaker 3: not just the ones that are alleged to have been
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  Speaker 3: recalled anonymously, but also with the ones that have been
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  Speaker 3: recalled now. We're still following up on information as to
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  Speaker 3: when they came to find out about the defects or
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  Speaker 3: the safety concerns of this vehicle. So the commission really
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  Speaker 3: is looking at this very seriously.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. This thought occurred to me.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, if the recall is, for example, a sensor
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  Speaker 2: defect in an airbag, I would have thought that can
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: be fixed fairly quickly. Not that I've ever tried to
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  Speaker 2: fix it. an airbag sensor. But it strikes me as
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  Speaker 2: if it's a very specific targeted repair. What you're dealing
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  Speaker 2: with here, though, with the three vehicles that are named
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  Speaker 2: at the start of our conversation, is a rear axle
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  Speaker 2: defect due possibly to substandard welding.
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  Speaker 1: Can't be fixed quickly.
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  Speaker 2: And what this might mean, particularly given the volume of
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  Speaker 2: vehicles involved, is that someone bringing in their vehicle would
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  Speaker 2: expect to be without that vehicle.
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  Speaker 1: For a much longer period of time. Have I read
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  Speaker 1: that correctly?
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  Speaker 2: And secondly, if I have, that appears to me to
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  Speaker 2: be a complicating factor where people who are battling at
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  Speaker 2: the best of times to move around and try and
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  Speaker 2: be productive and prosperous will say, listen, I know there's
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  Speaker 2: a risk, but actually I cannot be without a car.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, part of the reason why we also communicate that
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  Speaker 3: is Because what we could do is potentially just say,
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  Speaker 3: you know, these vehicles are being recalled for safety concerns.
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  Speaker 3: Part of the reason why we emphasize on the risks
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  Speaker 3: themselves is for consumers to know how serious the risks are.
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  Speaker 3: So we want every consumer who is concerned. And you
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  Speaker 3: also even in the statement to say that when consumers
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  Speaker 3: are of the view that the onset of the risk
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  Speaker 3: is upon them, they need to also contact the supplier directly.
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  Speaker 3: perhaps to organize for the vehicle to be put on
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  Speaker 3: a flatbed, to be towed. Because what we're looking at here,
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  Speaker 3: as you correctly indicate, is the risk that if this
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  Speaker 3: is dislodged and there are serious injuries or deaths that
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  Speaker 3: may occur, consumers need to be aware of this. I
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  Speaker 3: think we have a responsibility to be very patient in
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  Speaker 3: how we communicate about this.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Prudence Muirware from the National Consumer Commission. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: this is a big one. If you're implicated or involved
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  Speaker 2: and you want to share your responses, please do call us.
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  Speaker 3: 072702-1702.
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  Speaker 1: 29 minutes past five.