Automobili Lamborghini; Application for Temporary Exemption From Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 214 Publication: Federal Register Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Byline: Barry Felrice Date: 28 September 1994 Subject: American Government • Safety Topic: Lamborghini

[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-23909]


[Federal Register: September 28, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 94-75; Notice 1]


Automobili Lamborghini; Application for Temporary Exemption From 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 214

    Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. of Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, 
(``Lamborghini'') has applied for a temporary exemption from the 
dynamic side impact protection requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle 
Safety Standard No. 214 Side Impact Protection. The basis of the 
application is that compliance would cause substantial economic 
hardship to a company that has tried to comply with the standard in 
good faith.
    Notice of receipt of the application is published in accordance 
with the statutory requirements of 49 U.S.C. Sec. 30113(b)(2) and does 
not represent any judgment of the agency on the merits of the 
application.
    On May 16, 1994, Lamborghini petitioned NHTSA to permit Chrysler 
Corporation to include Lamborghini vehicles in its vehicle fleet for 
the purpose of compliance with Standard No. 214's phase-in calculation 
for enhanced side protection. In the alternative, it petitioned NHTSA 
to grant the company a temporary exemption from the side impact 
standard's new performance requirements until September 1, 1996. On 
August 5, 1994, NHTSA denied Lamborghini's request to be included in 
Chrysler's fleet because Chrysler had sold its interest in Lamborghini 
on January 31, 1994, to a group of investors led by MegaTech Ltd., a 
Bermuda corporation. At the same time, NHTSA informed Lamborghini that 
it would proceed to consider the question of temporary exemption. 
Lamborghini supplemented its application on August 22, 1994.
    Lamborghini has manufactured only 1,475 motor vehicles over the 
past five years, approximately 25% of which have been sold in the 
United States. Denial of its petition would therefore mean loss of the 
important U.S. market until compliance could be achieved, an estimated 
250 sales of 670 produced between January 1, 1995 and August 31, 1996. 
The applicant had operating losses in 1993 of approximately $5,000,000, 
and in 1992 of approximately $28,000,000. For 1991 it had an operating 
profit of almost $5,000,000.
    While it was owned by Chrysler, Lamborghini vehicles were scheduled 
to be modified during the last year of the phase-in period which ends 
with vehicles produced on August 31, 1996, because of the low number of 
vehicles produced and the lead time necessary for engineering and 
tooling modifications. Chrysler's sale of Lamborghini, therefore, has 
placed the applicant in a difficult position since, before the sale, 
``Lamborghini had a good faith basis for believing that it would not 
need to meet the requirements of Standard 214 until the production year 
beginning September 1, 1996 * * *.'' Lamborghini was left without 
sufficient lead time to comply 100% of its production by either 
September 1, 1994 or September 1, 1995, and, since it produces only a 
single model, cannot avail itself of the phase-in requirement.
    Accordingly, it has begun the preliminary work required to effect 
compliance in production vehicles manufactured beginning July 1996. 
During that time, it estimates that it will spend between $500,000 and 
$900,000 on research, development, and tooling changes.
    Lamborghini argues that an exemption would be in the public 
interest and consistent with the objectives of motor vehicle safety 
because it is ``one of the last small, pioneering and independent 
automobile manufacturers * * * precisely the type of small manufacturer 
that the * * * temporary exemption authority is intended to assist.'' 
Its vehicles ``are used predominantly for shorter pleasure, rather than 
commuting or longer, trips'' so that an exemption ``would have an 
imperceptible impact on motor vehicle safety.'' It points out that the 
livelihoods of its workers in U.S. distributorships and dealerships 
would be affected by a denial.
    Interested persons are invited to submit comments on the 
application described above. Comments should refer to the docket number 
and the notice number, and be submitted to: Docket Section, National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, room 5109, 400 Seventh Street, 
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: October 28, 1994.

(49 U.S.C. 30113; delegations of authority at 49 CFR 1.50, 501.8)

    Issued on September 22, 1994.
Barry Felrice
Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 94-23909 Filed 9-27-94; 8:45 am]
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