Interpretation ID: unimog.ztv
Mr. James Osse
Senior Ocean Engineer
Applied Physics Laboratory
University of Washington
1013 NE 40th St
Seattle, WA 98105
FAX 206-543-6785
Dear Mr. Osse:
This is in reply to your letter of January 19, 1999, regarding your wish to import a 1981 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U1300L truck.
You ask permission to import it as an off-road vehicle, citing agency interpretation letters to support your request.
Under the laws that we administer, a "motor vehicle" that must comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards is one that has been "manufactured primarily for use on the public streets, roads, and highways" (49 U.S.C. 30102(a)(6)). The determination of whether a specific vehicle is a "motor vehicle" is initially made by a manufacturer wishing to sell its vehicle in the American market, who may seek advice from us in making its determination. In 1972, Mercedes-Benz asked us our views regarding a line of Unimogs that it wished to import for agricultural use. We informed it on March 9, 1972, that its Unimog was not a "motor vehicle," and, on February 7, 1984, confirmed that interpretation to the company on the presumption "that the Unimog would still be marketed, as in the past, principally through farm machinery and heavy equipment dealers."
This interpretation was intended to cover only Unimogs that Mercedes-Benz manufactured for sale in the United States through farm machinery and heavy equipment dealers. It was not intended as a decision that Unimogs other than these were not "motor vehicles" and to exempt them also from compliance with the Federal motor vehicle safety standards. Indeed, your manifest intent is to convert the Unimog truck to a motor home and then use it on the roads to drive from the United States to other countries. We therefore cannot permit you to import the Unimog truck under Box 8 of the HS-7 Declaration Form as a vehicle that was not manufactured primarily for use on the public roads.
Under our regulations, the proper course to follow is to obtain the services of a "registered importer," who would petition the agency for a decision that the 1981 Unimog truck is capable of conversion to comply with the Federal motor vehicle safety standards that applied to trucks in 1981. If the decision is affirmative, the registered importer would convert the Unimog to meet the 1981 truck standards after you had imported it, and certify to this agency that the modifications had been performed. I enclose a list of registered importers who are conversant with European vehicles.
We understand that you wish to convert the truck to a motor home. We consider a motor home built on a truck chassis to be a "multipurpose passenger vehicle" (MPV). After the registered importer has certified the Unimog as meeting 1981 truck standards, any conversion work afterwards by the registered importer or by any manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or motor vehicle repair business must not take the vehicle out of compliance with any of the truck standards. However, conversion of a used 1981 truck to an MPV does not impose a new obligation to further convert the vehicle to meet 1981 MPV standards.
You also raise the possibility of removing the truck box before importation and importing the Unimog as a chassis only. This does not appear feasible under our regulations. Box 9 of the HS-7 Declaration Form permits the entry of vehicles requiring further manufacturing operations to perform their intended function, but the manufacturer of the incomplete vehicle (Mercedes-Benz) must provide a statement that accompanies the Form which meets the requirements of 49 CFR 568.4, indicating the applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards with which the incomplete vehicle does not comply and describing the further manufacturing operations required to conform it.
If you have further questions, you may contact Taylor Vinson of this Office (202-366-5263).
Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
Enclosure
ref:591
d.2/26/99