LIST OF NONCONFORMING MOTOR VEHICLES

THAT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR IMPORTATION (BY 

OR THROUGH A REGISTERED IMPORTER)

as of December 1, 2015

Under 49 U.S.C. § 30112(a), a person may not permanently import into the United States a motor vehicle 

manufactured after the date that an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) takes effect 

unless the vehicle complies with the standard and is so certified by its original manufacturer. This prohibition 

applies to both new and used motor vehicles, but does not apply to motor vehicles that are at least 25 years old 

(based on the month and year of manufacture).

Under one of the exceptions to this prohibition, found in 49 U.S.C. § 30141, a motor vehicle that was not 

originally manufactured to comply with all applicable FMVSS can be lawfully imported into the United States, 

provided it is determined eligible for importation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

(NHTSA), and is imported by a registered importer, or by a person who has a contract with a registered 

importer to bring the vehicle into compliance with all applicable FMVSS following importation. Import 

eligibility decisions can be made either on the initiative of the Administrator of NHTSA or on the petition of a 

manufacturer or registered importer. One basis for determining a motor vehicle eligible for importation is that it 

1) is substantially similar to a motor vehicle of the same model year that was manufactured for sale in the 

United States and certified by its manufacturer as complying with all applicable FMVSS and 2) is capable of 

being readily altered to comply with all applicable FMVSS. See 49 U.S.C. § 30141(a)(1)(A). Where there is no 

substantially similar U.S.-certified motor vehicle of the same model year, a vehicle can only be determined 

eligible for importation if its safety features comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply, with all 

applicable FMVSS based on destructive test information or other evidence NHTSA decides is adequate. See 49 

U.S.C. § 30141(a)(1)(B).

Vehicles that have been determined eligible for importation are assigned vehicle eligibility numbers. The list 

that follows this introduction includes the vehicle eligibility numbers for the nonconforming vehicles that were 

determined to be eligible and were less than 25 years old on the date shown above in the title of this document. 

The importer of a vehicle admissible under an eligibility decision must include the appropriate eligibility 

number on the Form HS-7 accompanying entry to indicate that the vehicle is eligible for importation.

All eligibility numbers are for left-hand drive vehicles except where the initials "RHD," signifying right-hand 

drive, appear in the model type column. While there is no specific restriction on importing a right-hand drive 

vehicle, they may not be imported under eligibility decisions based on the existence of substantially similar 

U.S.-certified left-hand drive vehicles alone. Our experience has shown that the safety performance of righthand drive vehicles is not necessarily the same as that of apparently similar left-hand drive vehicles offered for 

sale in this country. However, we will consider the vehicles "substantially similar" if the manufacturer advises 

us that the right-hand drive vehicle would perform the same as the U.S.-certified left-hand drive vehicle in 

dynamic crash tests. Absent such a showing, the RI would have to demonstrate (through a petition) that the 

vehicle, when modified, would comply with all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards, including 

those for which dynamic crash testing is prescribed.

This list also includes the NHTSA docket number(s) associated with each eligibility decision, so that any 

person wishing to obtain a copy of the petition or other associated documents can do so. The complete docket 

number uniquely identifies each docket.

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• If a docket number(s) is shown in the "Online" column, a copy of the associated documents can be 

obtained online from the Federal eRulemaking Portal. To do so, visit http://www.regulations.gov and 

enter on the appropriate screen the entire number appearing in the "Online" column. Online access is 

available for most notices published after November 9, 1997.

• If the sequence number is in the "Not Online" column, please visit the Technical Information Services 

(TIS) website at http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/problems/trd. 

"VSA" eligibility numbers are assigned to all vehicles that are decided to be eligible for importation on the 

initiative of the Administrator.

"VSP" eligibility numbers are assigned to vehicles that are decided to be eligible under 49 U.S.C. § 

30141(a)(1)(A), based on a petition from a manufacturer or registered importer which establishes that a 

substantially similar U.S.-certified vehicle exists. Where a VSP listing has no specific body style(s) noted, only 

the body style(s) of the associated vehicle model that were U.S.-certified by the original manufacturer are eligible 

for importation under that decision. For example, if the original manufacturer manufactured both sedan and 

wagon body styles for the described model, but only certified the sedan for the U.S. market, the wagon body style 

would not be eligible for importation under that determination.

"VCP" eligibility numbers are assigned to vehicles that are decided to be eligible under 49 U.S.C. § 

30141(a)(1)(B), based on a petition from a manufacturer or registered importer which establishes that the vehicle 

has safety features that comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, all applicable Federal motor 

vehicle safety standards.

All hyphens used in the Model Year(s) column mean "through" (for example, "1994-1998" means "1994 through 

1998").

The initials "MC" used in the "Manufacturer" column mean "motorcycle."

The initials "SWB" used in the "Model Type(s)" column mean "Short Wheel Base."

The initials "LWB" used in the "Model Type(s)" column mean "Long Wheel Base."

For vehicles with a European country of origin, the term "Model Year" ordinarily means calendar year in which 

the vehicle was produced.

The initials "RHD" used in the Model Type column mean "Right-Hand-Drive." All vehicles are left-hand-drive 

(LHD) vehicles unless noted as RHD.

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