Volvo recalled 116 EX30s in Japan over eCall software, with an owner-installed fix

Volvo Car Japan filed a recall with Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on October 8 covering 116 EX30s whose automatic emergency call system does not meet the national standard.

The defective part is the telematics and connectivity antenna module. According to the filing, its control program is inappropriate, so the module cannot connect to the mobile network and the emergency call cannot be placed. The vehicles therefore do not conform to Article 43-8 of Japan’s safety regulations, which governs automatic emergency call devices.

The remedy is to rewrite the module’s program on all affected vehicles. The filing gives two routes for doing so: the owner brings the car to a dealer, where the rewrite is performed with a diagnostic tool, or the countermeasure program is distributed remotely to the affected vehicles and the owner installs it. An over-the-air update is set out as an alternative of equal standing rather than as a secondary option.

The recall notification number is 外-4232 and the recall began on the day it was filed. The vehicles are two type designations across the EX30 and EX30 Cross Country, imported between October 13, 2023 and September 8, 2025 and built by Volvo Car Corporation in Sweden. Two field cases were reported in Japan and no accidents. The problem was identified from market information, and because the affected owners are known, they are being contacted directly by mail or telephone rather than through a trade notice.

Volvo Car AB is listed in Stockholm and made no regulatory disclosure of the recall, which is the expected treatment for 116 vehicles.