This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the eCall market. This segment comprises two sub-applications: ‘eCall Head Unit’ and ‘Dedicated eCall’.
eCall or emergency calling has become a standard safety feature in cars, following regulatory mandates in the European Union, the Eurasian Economic Union, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and other parts of the world. It is also growing organically in countries that still do not have any regulations, since for OEMs, this is a very cheap service to provide and it gives them the opportunity to add another product to offer, with limited downside. Many road safety programs focus on reducing the severity of accidents. However, emergency calling programs specifically aim to reduce response times and provide greater information for first responders.
eCall can be initiated either manually (by pushing a button) or automatically via activation of in-vehicle sensors when a serious vehicle crash occurs. In its early days, eCall used 2G and 3G networks to make calls and transfer data, but this now must be replaced with NG (Next Generation) eCall that uses 4G or 5G cellular networks because older networks are being phased out. From 1 January 2026, all new approved passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the EU must support NG-eCall, with legacy circuit-switched eCall being phased out for newly approved vehicle types from 2027. NG eCall will provide higher network availability, better service quality, and allow transmission of larger amounts of data (that may include health data of occupants, seatbelt usage, child restraint detection, or live images or video of accident scenes in future) to emergency services.
The report provides a detailed definition of the sector, analysis of market development and profiles of the key vendors in the space. It also provides a summary of the current status of adoption and Transforma Insights’ ten-year forecasts for the market. The forecasts include analysis of the number of IoT connections by geography, the technologies used (including splits by 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, LPWA, short range, satellite, and others), as well as the revenue split between module, value-added connectivity and services. A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector break-downs and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.
The report examines key factors that are influencing the development of the eCall market, including:
This section of the report first claims that the desire for better road safety is a key reason behind the adoption of emergency calling systems. It also adds that emergency calling programs aim to reduce the impact of accidents by providing rapid assistance to accident sites and greater information for first responders. For instance, in the EU, the use of eCall can speed up response times by 50% in the countryside and 40% in urban areas.
This subsection expounds upon how regulatory compliance has added impetus to the deployment of eCall. For example, in April 2018, the European Union made eCall service mandatory across 28 countries in Europe. It adds that the EU is now focusing on the transition to NG eCall, which enables emergency communications over 4G LTE and 5G networks. It also claims that unlike the EU, countries like the US, Japan, and India continue to rely primarily on manufacturer-specific connected emergency services or sector-specific regulations, instead of nationwide mandatory eCall legislations for all vehicles.
In a tabular format, it then discusses the regulatory statuses of eCall deployments across countries including China, the Eurasian Economic Union, the European Union, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America. Case in point, in India, the proposal for the deployment of eCall in personal vehicles was submitted in 2022 and is still in process. But all commercial passenger vehicles such as taxis and buses are required to have an AIS 140 tracker with SOS call features from 1st April 2019.
It also discusses how factors like population, infrastructure, economy, and other services will affect the adoption of eCall across various geographies. For instance, in India, the installation of eCall systems may be slow owing to the heavy investment requirement from the government and OEMs.
This subsection of the report explains how consumers usually have a strong desire to have emergency calling features in their vehicles. For instance, A consumer survey from Urgently conducted in 2021 indicated strong demand for connected safety services, with 62% of consumers rating ‘Contact authorities/emergency services upon collision’ as either 'Desirable' or 'Very Desirable'. It also adds that despite strong interest, the high cost of services has so far deterred a significant proportion of drivers from opting for eCall in many markets where it is optional. For instance, GM's OnStar Protect plan is priced at approximately USD199 per year, while premium connected service bundles can exceed USD300 per year.
This subsection first explains how an emergency call can be generated and how it works. It then discusses how the communication technologies used for eCalls have evolved over time (from 2G and 3G to 4G and 5G) and how it is migrating towards Next Generation eCall (NG eCall), which uses IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) over 4G LTE and 5G networks for both voice and data transmission. It also charts the benefits of the same, like improved network availability and enhanced call quality.
It also adds that beyond terrestrial cellular networks, the industry has also begun exploring NonTerrestrial Networks (NTN) as a complementary communication layer, which allows vehicles to communicate with Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites when terrestrial cellular coverage is unavailable. It also lists some automotive and connectivity companies (like Qualcomm and MediaTek) which have announced satellite-enabled automotive connectivity initiatives, and some organisations (such as CARIAD) which have identified NTN as a future enhancement for NG eCall.
This section first defines what eCall head units are and then explains why the adoption of eCall Head Unit services is largely organic in countries where it has not been mandated (such as the US). It further discusses the increasing integration of eCall with in-cabin occupant monitoring systems, resulting from Euro NCAP’s 2026 protocols, and its benefits, like transmission of additional information, including the number of occupants and seatbelt usage.
It then discusses the major factors slowing down the adoption of eCall in developing countries (including lack of knowledge and awareness) and how such countries will benefit the most from it. It also explains how the increasing usage of emergency calling features in smartphones and smartwatches can hinder its growth, although it also mentions the drawbacks of having eCall facilities in smartphones and smartwatches. To cite an instance, it has been noticed that some software installed in smartphones end up calling emergency services, even if they are accidentally dropped.
It also provides a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, such as BMW Group equipping vehicles with embedded SIM (eSIM) modules from Giesecke+Devrient (G+D).
This section first defines what dedicated eCall is, and then talks about its usability (exclusively manufactured for emergency calling) and the drivers behind their growing adoption (such as regulatory mandates). It then focuses on some standalone aftermarket eCall solutions for vehicles that are not originally equipped with it. For instance, Valeo Group’s Valeo Rescuer eCall device can be plugged into the vehicles’ cigarette lighter sockets. It further adds that in future, aftermarket eCall devices should become an increasingly niche market, and that since eCall and NG-eCall become standard equipment in new vehicles through regulatory mandates, the addressable market for retrofit devices will continue to decline with the gradual replacement of older vehicles.
It then provides a few examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application, including Volvo deploying an eCall emergency response system from Actia Nordics.
The key vendors section lists some of the main providers of products and services related to the market such as Bosch, Audi, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Ford, Denso Corporation, Valeo, and HARMAN International. The report provides profiles of the various vendors including aspects most relevant to this Application Group, such as product offerings, pricing, financial results, and technology.
In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:
The report charts the decline in the number of dedicated eCall devices, which will decrease from 22.1 million in 2025 to 41.6 million in 2035. Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other.
This section discusses which technologies will be used in the eCall application group.
This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the eCall Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 9%.
