guanidine nitrate (“GuNi”) 

 GuNi

 

 

 

 

 

 The comprehensive testing and 

evaluation program includes but is not limited to sled testing and vehicle crash testing. 

 

GuNi 

 

 vehicle crash testing 

 from the field from the field 

 crash For 

instance, the vehicle must be in good condition, never have been involved in an accident, and the 

complete electrical system of the vehicle must be thoroughly checked. 

Hogan Lovells US LLP 

Columbia Square 

555 Thirteenth Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20004 

T +1 202 637 5600 

F +1 202 637 5910 

www.hoganlovells.com 

March 1, 2018 

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION REDACTED 

Mr. Jonathan Morrison 

Chief Counsel 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

(NCC-111), Room W41-227 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE 

West Building 

Washington, DC 20590 

RE: Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0055 – Mercedes Benz USA Request for Extension of 

Priority Group 4 Sufficient Supply and Remedy Launch Deadline Under ¶ 39 of 

the Third Amended Coordinated Remedy Order to Address Takata Recalls 

Dear Mr. Morrison: 

On behalf of our clients, Daimler AG (“DAG”) and Mercedes Benz USA, LLC (“MBUSA”), and 

pursuant to ¶ 39 of the Third Amended Coordinated Remedy Order to address the Takata recalls, 

this letter requests an extension of time in which to comply with the sufficient supply and remedy 

launch deadlines for certain vehicles in Priority Group 4, as set forth in ¶ 33 of the Fifth Amendment 

to the Takata Coordinated Remedy Order (“Fifth Amended Order”). Under ¶ 33 of the Fifth 

Amended Order, the sufficient supply and remedy launch deadline for these vehicles is March 31, 

2018. 

As described in prior communications to NHTSA, MBUSA is implementing a Takata recall remedy 

strategy that involves use of the superior technical solution of [ ] based 

inflators. MBUSA and DAG have worked closely with Takata to develop and validate the [ ] 

replacement parts. MBUSA and DAG recently received information that the verification testing 

process for one of the models included within Priority Group 4 –the Model Year (MY) 2008-09 CClass (204 platform) – could not be completed. Accordingly, it will not be possible to comply with the 

current Priority Group 4 launch deadline for these vehicles. 

For each replacement module DAG is carrying out extensive testing and validation procedures to 

ensure fulfillment of all relevant performance requirements. [ 

] Upon 

completion of all necessary testing and validation for each module, DAG releases the use of the 

respective [ ] inflator-equipped airbag module in MBUSA vehicles and Takata will start 

supplying these modules to DAG and MBUSA accordingly. 

In order to conduct the [ ] for the MY 2008-09 C-Class (204 platform), it was 

necessary to source a MY 2008 vehicle [ ]. As the vehicle is sourced [ ], it 

is subject to a series of quality controls to ensure suitability for representative [ ] testing. [ 

] 
 

 

 

 

 

 perform the 

crash test 

 Unfortunately, upon completion of the crash test it was 

determined that the results were invalid due to a measuring error in the test set up.

 vehicle crash 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 crash 

 

 

 

 GuNi 

 

 

 verification crash 

 

 

 twenty percent 

 twenty percent 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Jonathan Morrison CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION REDACTED 

March 1, 2018 

Page 2 

The steps necessary to procure and prepare the MY 2008 C-Class vehicle, and to [ 

], occurred within the timeline DAG established in order to meet the launch schedule set 

out by NHTSA in the Fifth Amended Order. [ 

] 

As a consequence, DAG decided to repeat the [ ] test and started sourcing an 

additional 204 vehicle immediately. A potential vehicle was found, which upon further review did not 

fulfill all requirements necessary to ensure representative test results. At this point, DAG recognized 

that meeting the required launch schedule might not be possible. We immediately contacted NHTSA 

on February 14, 2018, communicating that, although analysis was ongoing and a final determination 

had not been made, a potential delay for the launch of the remedy for certain Priority Group 4 

models might arise. On February 27, 2018, MBUSA determined that it would not have a sufficient 

supply of remedy parts in time to meet the March 31, 2018 launch deadline. 

DAG has now been successful in locating a C-Class (204 platform) vehicle, and is currently in the 

process of final verification of suitability for [ ] testing. Once this verification has been 

successfully made, the vehicle will need to be shipped from the U.S. to the test facility in Germany, 

where it will be prepared for testing. 

As noted above, after completion of all necessary testing and validation for each module, DAG 

releases the use of the respective [ ] inflator-equipped airbag module in MBUSA vehicles, and 

Takata will start supplying these modules to DAG and MBUSA accordingly. 

Taking into account the time required to verify suitability of the vehicle, ship it to Germany, prepare it 

for testing, carry out the required [ ] test, release the parts and ship them to the 

U.S., MBUSA currently anticipates it will be in a position to launch the recall for the subject Priority 

Group 4 MY 2008-09 C-Class (204 platform) vehicles by June 30, 2018. 

MBUSA will launch this recall once [ ] of replacement parts are available to dealers. 

MBUSA currently anticipates that it will have the requisite [ ] part supply available by 

June 30, 2018. 

MBUSA respectfully requests an extension of time to comply with the Priority Group 4 launch 

deadline for MY 2008-09 C-Class (204 platform) vehicles until June 30, 2018. 

Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please let us know if you need any additional 

information. 

Sincerely, 

R. Latane Montague 

Attachment: Certificate in Support of Notice of Anticipated 

Shortage and Request for Extension 

Cc: Stephen Hench, Esq. 

R. Thomas Brunner