Interpretation ID: GF003175

Mr. Steven Jonas
Principal Engineer
Safety Affairs and Vehicle Testing
Volkswagen of America
3800 Hamlin Road
Auburn Hills, MI 48326

Dear Mr. Jonas:

This responds to your April 13, 2004, e-mail to George Feygin of my staff, concerning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations (NHTSAs) Federal motor vehicle theft prevention standard, 49 CFR Part 541 (Part 541). Specifically, you ask if expanded parts marking requirements in Part 541 apply to passenger cars with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 6,000 pounds. Our answer is yes.

By way of background, the purpose of Part 541 is to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle thefts by facilitating the tracing and recovery of parts from stolen vehicles. The standard requires identifying numbers or symbols (usually Vehicle Identification Numbers) to be placed on major parts of "high-theft" lines of passenger motor vehicles (i.e., a higher than median theft rate). "Passenger motor vehicle" was defined in the 1984 Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act so as to exclude multipurpose passenger vehicles, leaving passenger cars as the only included type of vehicle. As originally issued, Part 541 thus applied to above median theft rate lines of passenger cars regardless of GVWR.

The Anti Car Theft Act of 1992 (49 U.S.C. Chapter 331) expanded the application of the parts marking requirement by expanding the definition of "passenger motor vehicle" to include multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) and light duty trucks (LDTs) with a GVWR of 6,000 pounds or less. This definitional change brought above median theft rate MPVs and LDTs with a GVWR of 6,000 pounds or less within the parts marking requirement. On April 6, 2004, NHTSA issued a final rule that expanded Part 541, inter alia, to passenger motor vehicles with theft rates below the median (69 FR 17960). As a result, all passenger motor vehicles are now subject to the parts marking requirement.

You ask about a statement in the preamble to the April 6, 2004, final rule in which we said that NHTSA does not have the statutory authority to expand parts marking requirements to vehicles with a GVWR greater than 6,000 pounds. That discussion applied only to multipurpose passenger vehicles and light duty trucks and not to passenger cars. The parts marking requirement has applied to passenger cars regardless of the vehicles GVWR since the issuance of Part 541. Nowhere in the preamble to the April 6, 2004, final rule is there a discussion of narrowing the application of Part 541 to passenger cars based on the vehicles GVWR.

We regret any confusion and plan on issuing a correcting amendment that will clarify the application of Part 541 to passenger cars (541.3).

I hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions, please contact Mr. Feygin at this address or by phone at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Glassman
Chief Counsel

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d.5/10/04