Interpretation ID: nht80-2.20

DATE: 04/24/80

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; F. Berndt; NHTSA

TO: White Motor Corporation

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT:

April 24, 1980

Mr. James W. Lawrence White Motor Corporation 35129 Curtis Boulevard Eastlake, Ohio 44094

Dear Mr. Lawrence:

This responds to your letters dated March 11, 1980, and March 21, 1980, asking several questions about Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 115, Vehicle identification number.

Your first question relates to the number sequentially assigned to the vehicle by the manufacturer as required by S5.5.3.3 of the standard. You wish to know whether after assigning a number to a vehicle prior to its manufacture, the number may be cancelled if the vehicle is not actually manufactured. The answer is yes. This is permissible under the standard so long as the number is not reassigned to another vehicle, thereby destroying the sequence.

You also wish to know if White may assign a vehicle identification number to glider kits which it manufactures. Section 571.7(e) and (f) of Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations set forth the criteria for determining whether the vehicle created from a glider kit is to be considered a new vehicle or the original vehicle. If the vehicle is considered new, it must comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards, including the requirement that a new vehicle identification number be assigned (Standard No. 115). If, however, the vehicle is not considered new, the vehicle identification number originally issued for the vehicle must be the one that is assigned. (See section 108(a)(2)(A) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended.)

Sincerely,

Frank Berndt Chief Counsel

March 11, 1980 Mr. Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20590

Re: FMVSS-115 Request for Interpretation - S 4.5.3.3 Sequential Assignment of Serial Numbers

Dear Mr. Berndt:

White Motor Corporation sequentially assigns serial numbers by customer to enhance problem reporting, repair parts purchasing, vehicle licensing and defect recall. When a customer orders 50 vehicles, the attributes of which are identical, the 50 serial numbers will be sequential and assigned only to those vehicles. During the manufacturing process, if all or part of the order is cancelled, the serial numbers assigned to the unbuilt vehicles are cancelled and not reissued for any other vehicle. The remaining numbers as well as those in preceeding and subsequent customer orders are therefore sequential even though not every number is used.

The preamble discussion on page 36451 of the August 17, 1978 Federal Register addressing the issue of some manufacturers desiring to keep confidential the total number of vehicles manufactured is, in our opinion, a corrolary to this condition. White believes, and requests confirmation that, the requirement for sequential assignment does not also require the use of every number in the sequence.

Sincerely,

WHITE MOTOR CORPORATION

James W. Lawrence, Manager Engineering Reliability & Government Standards Dept.

JWL/cjb

March 21, 1980

Mr. Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. 400 Seventh Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20590 Re: FMVSS-115 Request for Interpretation Vehicle Identification Numbers for Glider Kits

Dear Mr. Berndt:

White Motor Corporation manufactures Glider Kits which are sold through its Service Department for use in rebuilding used and wrecked vehicles. FMVSS-115 does not apply to these kits because they are not new vehicles as manufactured.

There are, however, some states which allow the rebuilt vehicle to carry the identity of the kit, rather than that of the scrapped vehicle. To facilitate the registration of these vehicles, White issues a Manufacturers' Statement of Origin and a vehicle identification number. Registration as a White also provides traceability for recall should the need arise.

White believes, and requests confirmation that, although the standard does not apply to these vehicles, the standard does not prohibit the application of VIN to a Glider Kit.

Sincerely,

WHITE MOTOR CORPORATION

James W. Lawrence, Manager Engineering Reliability & Government Standards Dept.

JWL/cjb