Interpretation ID: aiam1397
Assistant Secretary and Attorney
White Motor Corporation
100 Erieview Plaza
Cleveland
OH 44114;
Dear Mr. Reinhardt: This is in response to your letter of February 4, regarding th proposed owner defect notification letter for defect notification campaign No. 73-0140.; Your letter fails to conform to 49 CFR, Part 577 as it states in th second sentence that the defect exists in equipment items manufactured and supplied by Rockwell International Corporation. We do not consider this statement to be responsive to 577.4(b)(1). As White Motor Corporation is the manufacturer of the motor vehicles involved, its determination and the statement required pursuant to 577.4(b)(1) must be to the effect that it has determined that a defect exists in the vehicles you identify in the following sentence.; The wording used by White Motor Corporation in the owner letter fo defect notification campaign No. 73-0242 is an example of a letter which does conform to the regulation.; The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is awar that there is a disagreement between White Motor Corporation and Rockwell International as to the exact cause of the defect. The NHTSA does not wish to become a party to this disagreement and in our opinion we cannot allow White Motor Corporation to use the owner notification letter as a forum to air their views.; I trust that you will make the appropriate changes to the owne notification letter and submit a revised copy to this office.; Sincerely, Andrew G. Detrick, Acting Director, Office of Defect Investigation, Motor Vehicle Programs;