China logs two software recalls on GAC Toyota's bZ7, both remedied over the air

China’s market regulator SAMR logged two parallel recalls against GAC Toyota’s bZ7 electric sedan on July 31, both traced to software defects and both remedied entirely over the air.

The more serious filing, S2026M0083V, covers 15,266 vehicles built between October 2025 and June 2026: a deficiency in the smart Bluetooth module’s control software can, under specific conditions, send abnormal commands to the vehicle control module — dropping the car from drive to neutral while moving and cutting power output. The second, S2026M0084V, covers 24,286 vehicles through July 2026 production, where incomplete logic in the thermal-management controller can stop the air-conditioning compressor and water heater, degrading defrost and defog performance.

The remedy for all 39,552 vehicles is a free software update pushed from August 1, with a dealer-installed flash offered for cars that cannot receive it over the air.

The details matter less than the machinery. A Bluetooth module that can shift a moving car into neutral is exactly the class of cross-domain software risk that centralized architectures create — and a regulator that files it, numbers it and closes it with an OTA campaign within days is what mature software-defined-vehicle governance looks like. China’s system now does this routinely.