Volvo recalls nearly 1,900 cars in India

Volvo India has just issued a recall for 1,891 units of its models in India, in relation to a suspected problem with the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system. This recall is part of a much larger global recall of over 7 lakh Volvo cars. The models affected by this are MY 2019 and 2020 V90 Cross Country estate, S90 sedan, XC40, XC60 and XC90 SUVs.

What the AEB system does is it uses an array of sensors to distinguish obstacles ahead on the road like pedestrians, cyclists, stationary vehicles, and automatically apply the brake when getting too close to the obstacle, without the need for drivers input, thus helping in preventing accidents.

The issue Volvo seems to have with these recalled cars is that in high temperature situations, while the obstacles are detected, the system doesn’t automatically apply the brakes. Apparently, the fix for this issue is a simple software upgrade, and the malfunction does not impede the drivability of the cars in any other way.

Though considering the current situation with the COVID-19 threat and the government-issued curfews in place across many Indian states, it may take longer to get the cars sent across to the workshops for the software update. Also as a measure to prevent the spread of the virus, Volvo Car India announced a 'work from home' strategy on March 17, 2020.