[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 78 (Monday, April 23, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20520-20521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9999]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA 01-9362; Notice 1]


Saleen, Inc.; Receipt of Application for Temporary Exemption From 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208

    Saleen, Inc., of Irvine, California, has applied for a temporary 
exemption of two years from the automatic restraint requirements of 
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 Occupant Crash 
Protection. The basis of the request is that compliance would cause 
substantial economic hardship to a manufacturer that has tried to 
comply with the standard in good faith. 49 U.S.C. 30113(b)(3)(B)(i).
    We are publishing this notice of receipt of an application in 
accordance with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 30113(b)(2). This action 
does not represent any judgment of the agency on the merits of the 
application.
    Saleen refers to itself as a ``small volume US manufacturer which 
currently produces the Saleen S281 and the XP8 Explorer.'' Saleen 
receives completed and certified Mustangs and Explorers from Ford Motor 
Company drop shipped at the direction of the dealers who own them. 
Saleen adds a supercharger, makes ``other minor engine modifications, 
front and rear bumper outer skin designs, the seat trim, [upgrades] the 
tires, wheels/suspension/brakes, and [adds] appliques to the exterior 
and interior of the vehicle. Saleen does not make any structural 
changes to the Mustang or the Explorer.'' Under NHTSA regulations, 
Saleen is considered an alterer, rather than a manufacturer, since it 
modifies previously certified vehicles. (See 49 CFR 567.7). Although it 
may have altered several hundred Ford vehicles in the year preceding 
the filing of its application, we do not regard Saleen as a 
``manufacturer.''
    The company now wishes to become a manufacturer of a motor vehicle 
of its own design. As the vehicle has not entered production, Saleen 
has manufactured no motor vehicles in the year preceding the filing of 
its application. The vehicle is called the S7 and is a ``two seat, 
coupe, sportscar.'' The S7 has been shown in prototype form at 
automobile shows around the country. The prototype does not fully 
comply with the lighting requirements of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 
No. 108, Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment, but Saleen 
assures us that the next prototype and the production models to follow 
will meet Standard No. 108 and all other standards as well, with the 
exception of the automatic restraint requirements of Standard No. 208, 
paragraph S4.1.5.3.
    Saleen has asked for a three-year exemption for the S7 and 
anticipates that it will sell a total of 112 of them by the end of 
2003. According to the petition, preliminary compliance-related 
development of the S7 was started in July 2000. By the time it filed 
its petition in December 2000, the company had ``spent an estimated 
total of 180 man-hours and $18,000 relating to the installation of a 
driver and passenger side airbag system on the S7.'' The monies spent 
thus far ``have been in the areas of exterior and interior design 
necessary for the installation of airbags.'' It has been advised that 
the airbag development process would cost approximately $1,000,000 not 
including the cost of test prototype vehicles and airbags, and tooling. 
This process cannot be completed by the time the company expects to 
launch the S7, in the summer of 2001. Indeed, the company estimates 
that it will take up to 20 months to fully develop a system and that 
the total costs will approach $3,000,000.
    Saleen has cumulative net losses before taxes for the past three 
fiscal years of $9,716,334. It states that it ``simply cannot afford to 
develop the air bags in either the first (2001)or second (2002) year'' 
because of these losses. The company ``has exhausted all of its 
borrowing capacity and must sell and ship S7 vehicles (as well as its 
other products) to generate cash flow sufficient to defray airbag 
development costs as well as other S7 development costs.'' Although 
``funding for the S7 was secured through a private investor,'' it 
states that ``all further funding for airbags must come from our 
ordinary income.'' Even with an exemption, Saleen projects net losses 
continuing through the end of the period though earnings before 
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization would be positive. It 
plans to spread out air bag development costs over the next three years 
to achieve compliance by the end of the exemption period. If the 
petition is denied, the company believes that it would lose credibility 
with dealers and negatively impact the demand for altered Saleen 
vehicles.
    The company argues that a temporary exemption is in the public 
interest because the S7 ``is a unique super car designed and produced 
in the US utilizing many US sourced components.'' An exemption would 
also allow it to maintain its payroll of 122 full time employees and to 
continue its purchase of US sourced components for the Mustangs and 
Explorers that it modifies. Its business with US suppliers ``indirectly 
provides employment for several hundred other Americans.'' An exemption 
is consistent with vehicle safety objectives because the S7 otherwise 
will conform to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards.
    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 Management, Room PL-
401, 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. The Docket Room is open from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 
p.m. To the extent

[[Page 20521]]

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: May 23, 2001.

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

    Issued on April 18, 2001.
Stephen R. Kratzke,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 01-9999 Filed 4-20-01; 8:45 am]
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