National Highway Traffic Safety Administration September 7, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice grants the Automobili Lamborghini SpA (``Lamborghini''); Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. and Bugatti Engineering GmbH (collectively, ``Bugatti''); Group Lotus Plc (``Lotus''); Morgan Motor Company Limited (``Morgan''); and Maserati SpA (``Maserati'') applications for temporary exemption from certain advanced air bag requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, Occupant Crash Protection. The exemptions apply to the Lamborghini Murcielago, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the Lotus Elise, the Morgan Aero 8, and the Maserati Coupe/Spyder. In accordance with 49 CFR part 555, the basis for each grant is that compliance would cause substantial economic hardship to a manufacturer that has tried in good faith to comply with the standard, and the exemption would have a negligible impact on motor vehicle safety. The exemptions for the Lamborghini Murcielago, the Lotus Elise, and the Morgan Aero 8 are effective September 1, 2006 and will remain in effect until August 31, 2009. The exemption for the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is effective from September 1, 2006 and will remain in effect until September 1, 2008. The exemption for the Maserati Coupe/Spyder is effective from September 1, 2006 and will remain in effect until December 31, 2007. In accordance with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 30113(b)(2), we published a notice of receipt of the applications \1\ in the Federal Register and asked for public comments.\2\ We received comments from four of the petitioners (Lamborghini, Lotus, Morgan, and Maserati), one trade organization, and one individual. Please note that, as was done with the notice of receipt, we are publishing this decision notice for the five applications together to ensure efficient use of agency resources and to facilitate the timely processing of the applications. However, NHTSA considered each application individually, and our decision regarding the temporary exemption for each company is discussed separately below.