NHTSA Denies GM Bid to Take Certification Credit

5 December 2000

NHTSA Denies General Motors Bid to Take Certification Credit for Assembling Future Hummer H2, NetCompliance, Inc. Reveals

    WASHINGTON--Dec. 5, 2000--The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has quietly denied a General Motors Corporation attempt to have the automaker's name appear on the certification label of future Hummer H2 vehicles, because the assembly will be conducted by someone else, according to a release of the agency's ruling on the web site of NetCompliance, Inc. (www.netcompliance.com), the nation's leading provider of "paperless" compliance solutions for businesses regulated by government and state rules.
    General Motors had asked NHTSA that, since the company was responsible for the design of the Hummer 2, and purchases and manufacturers almost all of the parts used to make the vehicles, if GM's name could appear on the certification label that is required by law to be affixed to new vehicles. As part of motor vehicle safety standard compliance, Federal law provides that the "full corporate or individual name of the actual assembler of the vehicle" must be stated on the certification label.
    GM further added that it is the rightful manufacturer because GM controls the subcontractor assembler, AM General Corporation (AMG), South Bend, Ind., and that the vehicles will be delivered to GM for inspection, acceptance and shipment to its dealers. The automaker said it would be responsible for any warranty and recall campaign administration.
    However, NHTSA's Chief Counsel, Frank Seales, Jr., denied GM's request. "Notwithstanding the broad responsibility that you have identified GM as assuming with respect to the Hummer H2," Seales wrote on November 15, "we have concluded that GM may not be identified as the manufacturer on the certification labels to be affixed to those vehicles." Seales added that AMG, and not GM, will be the actual assembler of the Hummer H2, and that GM has no equity stock interest in the AMG company, and therefore does not control AMG.
    "If GM wishes its name to appear on the certification label for the Hummer H2, there is nothing to preclude the label from stating that the vehicle was manufactured by AMG for GM," Seales said, adding that the certification label for a 1997 Ford Aspire reads manufactured "by Kia Motors Co. for Ford Motor Co."
    "NetCompliance is using its regulatory compliance knowledge in the automotive field to make this important NHTSA ruling immediately known to our subscribers and other companies worldwide via the Internet and our web site," said NetCompliance CEO Krish R. Krishnan. "Companies face a myriad of rules and regulations each day, and NetCompliance provides a better, cheaper and faster way to keep abreast of and comply with all of those regulatory actions," he added.
    This is not the first time that the Washington, DC-based NetCompliance, Inc., has broken the news of major federal government actions that affect businesses. On September 16, 2000, NetCompliance revealed that NHTSA turned back an attempt to approve retail advertising on tires because of potential consumer confusion (www.netcompliance.com/pages/nc_pressrelease11).
    On August 23, 2000, NetCompliance revealed that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) told DaimlerChrysler that the agency would accept management's electronic signatures on employee training certificates (www.netcompliance.com/pages/nc_pressrelease10).

    NetCompliance uses its eComply(TM) technology to allow businesses to meet federal and state regulations, using an integrated information commerce suite of compliance and training modules, delivered by subscription via the Internet. A copy of the NHTSA letter can be found at the www.netcompliance.com home page, under the headline "NHTSA DENIES GENERAL MOTORS BID".