Chery Omoda E5 – CKD in Q2 2024, Mobile App Coming Soon

Chery Malaysia has reiterated its interest in locally assembling the Omoda E5 EV, which may take place later this year.

In case you missed it, Chery Malaysia just launched its first-ever all-electric model earlier this week, known as the Omoda E5. While we’ve previously reported that Chery was interested in locally assembling (CKD) the E5 for our local market, it appears that such a plan may come true after all.

Chery Malaysia VP Lee Wen Hsiang reconfirms the marque's plan to locally-assemble the Omoda E5.

Speaking to the media during the Omoda E5 launch, Chery Malaysia vice president Lee Wen Hsiang confirmed that the Omoda E5 will be locally assembled for the Malaysian market some time in Q2 this year, with the first few units arriving here still being CBU units imported from China.

"So we will launch with the CBU first. We are looking to introduce the CKD in the very near future, somewhere around Q2, but the official date will be released once we firm up the production timing for the CKD EVs," Wen Hsiang said.

When asked how many CBU units were brought in before the CKD models arrived, Wen Hsiang clarified that it all depends on how soon they can get started on the CKD production of the Omoda E5, which is due to take place at the Inokom plant in Kulim, Kedah—the same site used to CKD both the Omoda 5 and Tiggo 8 Pro.

This also means the first few units of the E5 to be delivered to customers in Malaysia would be fully-imported units from China, as opposed to some reports indicating that we’d be getting the Indonesian-made Omoda E5 for our local market.

The current CBU unit of the Chery Omoda E5 is on sale at RM146,800 on-the-road.

Should Chery Malaysia be able to locally assemble the Omoda E5, it begs the question whether this may affect the asking price for this EV SUV, which currently retails competitively at RM146,800 on-the-road. At this moment, Chery Malaysia cannot confirm or deny any price change for the CKD Omoda E5, although it is somewhat logical that the CKD model would be priced cheaper than its fully-imported counterpart.

Elsewhere on the Omoda E5, Chery Malaysia has also expressed plans to introduce a dedicated mobile app for the EV model. Similar to other dedicated EV apps available out there, the Chery Malaysia mobile app will provide Omoda E5 owners with standard vehicle telemetry controls as well as a more seamless charging experience.

Prior to the app launch, Chery Malaysia currently partners with EV Connection (JomCharge) to provide access to its charging network for all Omoda E5 owners. More impressive is that each of the E5 can be connected directly to the user’s EVC charging account via a unique vehicle ID, where they can activate any charging stations available in EVC’s network and its roaming partners without using their mobile app.

Besides the charging integration, both EVC and Chery Malaysia also partnered to provide RM1,000 in free EVC charging credit for the first 2,000 customers who place a booking on the Omoda E5, alongside other gifts like the wallbox charger and a V2L device.