Interpretation ID: nht95-2.70

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: May 5, 1995

FROM: John G. Womack -- Acting Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Jiro Doi -- Vice President, Mitsubishi North America, Inc.

TITLE: NONE

ATTACHMT: ATTACHED TO 1/19/95 LETTER FROM Jiro Doi to Philip Recht

TEXT: Dear Mr. Doi:

This is in response to your letter to Philip Recht, former Chief Counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in which you requested an interpretation of the parts-marking requirement of the motor vehicle theft protection standa rd, 49 CFR Part 541.

Your letter asks whether marking the clutch housing on a manual transmission vehicle, or the converter housing on an automatic transmission vehicle, would comply with 49 CFR @ 541.5(a)(2), which requires that the transmission be marked with a VIN or VIN- derivative. Your letter states that the housing is "attached to the transmission via bolts that may be removed allowing the clutch housing (or converter housing) to separate from the transmission."

The answer to your question is that marking the housing but not the transmission would not comply with @ 541.5(a)(2). It is the transmission, and not the housing, that is the component of value to thieves. It is possible that a thief would want to remo ve the transmission from a vehicle without removing the housing, since the transmission is smaller and easier to conceal by itself than it would be with the housing attached. Removal of the transmission alone would be relatively easy to accomplish where the housing is attached to the transmission only by bolts, which is the design you describe in your letter.

If you have any further questions on this matter, please contact Eileen Leahy, an attorney on my staff, at 202-366-5263.