[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 248 (Wednesday, December 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-31853]
[Federal Register: December 28, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 94-100; Notice 1]
Excalibur Automobile Corporation; Receipt of Application for
Temporary Exemption From Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208
Excalibur Automobile Corporation of West Allis, Wisconsin, has
applied for a temporary exemption of its JAC 427 Cobra passenger car
for three years from compliance with paragraph S4.1.4 of Federal Motor
Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 Occupant Crash Protection. The basis of
the application is that compliance would cause substantial economic
hardship to a manufacturer that has tried to comply with the standard
in good faith.
Notice of receipt of the application is published in accordance
with agency regulations on the subject (49 CFR part 555) and does not
represent any judgment of the agency on the merits of the application.
The applicant seeks an exemption for its JAC 427 Cobra passenger
car, of which it has produced 59 between January 1993 and September
1994. Thirty-six of these ``are presently in the control of Excalibur's
dealers'', and the applicant asks that the exemption cover these
vehicles so that they may be offered for sale and sold in compliance
with the law. It plans increased production in 1995, of which 60 to 108
would be sold in the United States.
Excalibur is a small company with 37 employees and net assets of
$3,000,000. The company has had cumulative net losses of $4,493,000
from January 1, 1992 to September 30, 1994. If it were required to
comply immediately with the automatic restraint requirements of
Standard No. 208, it would have to raise the retail price by more than
300 per cent which ``is likely to deemed (sic) to be prohibitive by
potential purchasers (and dealers), thereby significantly reducing the
line's desirability, if not ending the demand entirely . . . .'' Denial
of the petition would result in a reduction of the work force to 8
employees.
Excalibur has been owned since 1991 by German residents, who
changed the company's management in August 1994. The new management has
not been able to trace the company's efforts to comply beyond December
1993 when the then Vice President of Production informed the then
President that he had ``just located a potential source for a retrofit
driver's as well as passenger air bag system.'' Compliance was
anticipated ``within weeks.'' NHTSA was likewise informed of this
possibility in December 1993. On May 31, 1994, in an incomplete
petition for exemption from Standard No. 208, Excalibur informed the
agency that its efforts to work with companies in Arizona and Florida
had ended in frustration and failure and that it was currently unable
to find a source for an adequate, workable airbag system.
According to its application, Excalibur will use the exemption
period ``to accommodate a fully-complying airbag system.'' It is
investigating the possibility of installing Ford Mustang steering
columns and airbag systems, as well as whether its existing column
could accept an airbag produced by Breed Technologies. Exempted
vehicles would be provided with a three-point restraint system as well
as with a ``clearly visible warning label reminding the vehicle's
occupants of the importance of wearing their safety belts.
The company argues that an exemption would be in the public
interest and consistent with the objectives of motor vehicle safety
because it presently has 17 dealers in 12 states, and ``a thriving
manufacturing business and dealer network not only provides employment,
but will generate federal and state tax revenues.'' The small number of
vehicles that the exemption will cover and the limited mileage they
will be driven ensure that an exemption ``will not materially affect
overall motor vehicle safety in the U.S.''
Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the
application described above. Comments should refer to the docket and
notice number referenced above, and be submitted to: Docket Section,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, room 5109, 400 Seventh
St. SW, Washington, DC 20590. It is requested but not required that 10
copies be submitted.
All comments received before the close of business on the comment
closing date indicated below will be considered, and will be available
for examination in the docket at the above address both before and
after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed after the
closing date will also be considered. Notice of final action on the
application will be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the
authority indicated below.
Comment closing date: January 27, 1995.
Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30113; delegations of authority at 49 CFR
1.50 and 501.8.
Issued on: December 21, 1994.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 94-31853 Filed 12-27-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
