[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 88 (Monday, May 9, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-11008]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 9, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 94-10; Notice 2]
AC Cars Ltd; Grant of Petition for Temporary Exemption From
Standard No. 208
AC Cars Ltd. of Weybridge, Surrey, England, petitioned for a
temporary exemption until November 1, 1996, for its Ace model, from the
automatic protection requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection. The basis of the petition
was that compliance would cause substantial economic hardship.
Notice of receipt of the petition was published on February 2,
1994, and an opportunity afforded for comment (59 FR 4964). This notice
grants the petition.
Petitioner's Hardship Arguments
Under 15 U.S.C. 1410(a)(1)(A), the Administrator may provide a
temporary exemption upon a finding that ``compliance would cause
substantial economic hardship and that the manufacturer has, in good
faith, attempted to comply * * *.''
The following is a summary of AC's petition. The company is
privately owned and produced no motor vehicles during the 12 months
preceding the filing of its petition. The first prototype of the Ace
was shown in 1986. Since then, the company has spent much time
redesigning it ``to meet the increasingly higher standards of emissions
and safety * * * with the original intentions of achieving first sales
into North America.'' As of the date of the petition, the petitioner
has spent approximately 5,000,000 Pounds Sterling on the project,
100,000 of which (and 1,250 man hours) have been spent in the two years
preceding the filing of the petition in research and development
relating to meeting the automatic restraint requirements of Standard
No. 208. Because the Ace is a full convertible, the company found that
it could not adopt an automatic seat belt system. Additional design
changes, development and actual testing are necessary in order to
install in the Ace an airbag system that meets Standard No. 208. Being
a small manufacturer of motor vehicles, the petitioner has had to rely
on the expertise of outside parties in the design and development of
necessary components.
AC concluded that modifications of the following will be required
to accommodate driver and passenger side airbag systems: interior dash
and cockpit components, seats, steering wheel and chassis. The
estimated cost of these modifications is 750,000 Pounds Sterling,
exclusive of testing costs. The company's balance sheet shows that its
cumulative losses, which were approximately 1,500,000 Pounds Sterling
as of December 31, 1989, increased to approximately 4,275,000 Pounds
Sterling as of September 30, 1993.
The company anticipates that it will be able to conform by November
1, 1996. It projects total sales of 200 units in 1994 and 350 in 1995,
half of which are proposed for North American sales.
Arguments Why an Exemption Would be in the Public Interest and
Consistent With Traffic Safety Objectives
In order to grant an exemption, the Administrator must also find
that the exemption is in the public interest and consistent with the
objectives of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (the
Act). In support of its petition, AC informed NHTSA that the Ace will
be equipped with a three-point restraint system that conforms to
Standard No. 208, ``the mountings of which have been tested in
accordance with and achieved FMV210 (sic) US standard approval.''
Further, except for the automatic restraint requirements, the Ace has
been designed to meet all other Federal motor vehicle safety standards,
and the bumper standard. It will be manufactured ``using the following
US sourced components: Ford engine, transmission, exhaust, wiring and
associated components.'' According to the petitioner, ``US parts
sourcing and dealer network labor involvement is also in the best
interest of the US economy.''
No comments were received on the petition.
The agency is cognizant of the history of AC Cars Ltd., a
manufacturer of ancient lineage whose production during the 70 years or
so of its existence has been minimal, and, in the past decade,
sporadic. The Ace is a refinement of a 1986 prototype which had not
entered production as of the time that the company filed its petition.
In spite of its cumulative net losses, AC has been able to engineer a
passenger car that it avers is in compliance with all Federal motor
vehicle safety and bumper standards with the exception of the standard
for which it seeks temporary exemption. With respect to Standard No.
208, NHTSA is aware of the problems that small manufacturers have in
interesting outside concerns to engineer and supply automatic restraint
systems for unique vehicles of very limited production. AC appears to
have determined the areas of its product that must be revised in order
to conform to Standard No. 208, and to have established a schedule for
achieving compliance. The Ace will be equipped with a three-point
restraint system in each of its two designated seating positions. The
decision to engineer for airbags appears particularly appropriate given
the mandate that all cars be equipped with driver and passenger airbags
and given the extra expense that would result from designing first for
automatic belts and then for air bags. The car will utilize a US-
manufactured drive train and other components.
Accordingly, it is hereby found that to require compliance would
cause the petitioner substantial economic hardship and that the
petitioner has made a good faith effort to comply with the standard for
which exemption is requested. It is further found that a temporary
exemption would be in the public interest and consistent with the
objectives of the Act. AC Cars Ltd. is granted NHTSA Temporary
Exemption 94-3, expiring November 1, 1996, from S4.1.4 of 49 CFR
571.208 Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 Occupant Crash
Protection.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1410; delegation of authority at 49 CFR
1.50.
Issued on: May 3, 1994.
Christopher A. Hart,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-11008 Filed 5-6-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P-M
