Document ID: NHTSA-2019-0022-0002
Agency: nhtsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Posted Date: 2019-10-08T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53821-53822]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-21892]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2019-0022; Notice 1]

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Receipt of Petition for 
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Receipt of petition.

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SUMMARY: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen), has determined 
that certain MY 2017-2019 Audi A3 motor vehicles do not comply with 
Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) No. 101, Controls and 
Displays. Volkswagen filed a noncompliance report dated February 18, 
2019, and later amend it on September 13, 2019. Volkswagen subsequently 
petitioned NHTSA on February 20, 2019, for a decision that the subject 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. 
This document announces receipt of Volkswagen's petition.

DATES: Send comments on or before November 7, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written data, 
views, and arguments on this petition. Comments must refer to the 
docket and notice number cited in the title of this notice and 
submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail: Send comments by mail addressed to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590.
     Hand Delivery: Deliver comments by hand to the U.S. 
Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, M-30, West Building 
Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 
20590. The Docket Section is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
except for Federal Holidays.
     Electronically: Submit comments electronically by logging 
onto the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) website at https://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Comments may also be faxed to (202) 493-2251.
    Comments must be written in the English language, and be no greater 
than 15 pages in length, although there is no limit to the length of 
necessary attachments to the comments. If comments are submitted in 
hard copy form, please ensure that two copies are provided. If you wish 
to receive confirmation that comments you have submitted by mail were 
received, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the 
comments. Note that all comments received will be posted without change 
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.
    All comments and supporting materials received before the close of 
business on the closing date indicated above will be filed in the 
docket and will be considered. All comments and supporting materials 
received after the closing date will also be filed and will be 
considered to the fullest extent possible.
    When the petition is granted or denied, notice of the decision will 
also be published in the Federal Register pursuant to the authority 
indicated at the end of this notice.
    All comments, background documentation, and supporting materials 
submitted to the docket may be viewed by anyone at the address and 
times given above. The documents may also be viewed on the internet at 
https://www.regulations.gov by following the online instructions for 
accessing the dockets. The docket ID number for this petition is shown 
in the heading of this notice.
    DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement is available for review in a 
Federal Register notice published on April 11, 2000, (65 FR 19477-78).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    I. Overview: Volkswagen has determined that certain MY 2017-2019 
Audi A3 motor vehicles do not comply with paragraph S5.2.1 of FMVSS No. 
101, Controls and Displays (49 CFR 571.101). Volkswagen filed a 
noncompliance report dated February 18, 2019, and later amended it on 
September 13, 2019, pursuant to 49 CFR 573, Defect and Noncompliance 
Responsibility and Reports. Volkswagen subsequently petitioned NHTSA on 
February 20, 2019, for an exemption from the notification and remedy 
requirements of 49 U.S.C. Chapter 301 on the basis that this 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety, 
pursuant to 40 U.S.C. 30118 and 49 U.S.C. 30120, Exemption for 
Inconsequential Defect or Noncompliance.
    This notice of receipt of Volkswagen's petition is published under 
49 U.S.C. 30118 and 30120 and does not represent any agency decision or 
other exercise of judgment concerning the merits of the petition.
    II. Vehicles Involved: Approximately 18,379 MY 2017-2019 Audi A3 
sedan, Cabriolet, RS3, and e-Tron motor vehicles, manufactured between 
July 7, 2016, and January 7, 2019, are potentially involved.
    III. Noncompliance: Volkswagen explains that the noncompliance is 
that the subject vehicles are equipped with speedometers that only 
display the vehicle's speed in units of either miles per-hour (mph) or 
kilometers-per-hour (km/h) and therefore do not meet the requirements 
set forth in paragraph S5.2.1 and Table 1, Column 3 of FMVSS No. 101.
    IV. Rule Requirements: Paragraphs S5.2.1 and Table 1, Column 3 of 
FMVSS No. 101 provides that each passenger car, multipurpose passenger 
vehicle, truck and bus that is fitted with a control, a telltale, or an 
indicator listed in Table 1 or Table 2 must meet the requirements of 
FMVSS No. 101 for the location, identification, color, and

[[Page 53822]]

illumination of that control, telltale or indicator.
    Each control, telltale and indicator that is listed in column 1 of 
Table 1 or Table 2 must be identified by the symbol specified for it in 
column 2 or the word or abbreviation specified for it in column 3 of 
Table 1 or Table 2.
    V. Summary of Volkswagen's Petition: The following views and 
arguments presented in this section, V. Summary of Volkswagen's 
Petition, are the views and arguments provided by Volkswagen. They have 
not been evaluated by the agency and do not reflect the views of the 
Agency.
    Volkswagen described the subject noncompliance and stated that the 
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
    Volkswagen submitted the following views and arguments in support 
of the petition:
    1. All affected Audi A3 vehicles are initially delivered for first-
sale in the U.S. market in a compliant state (speed displayed in miles-
per-hour). Only through driver interaction, within the settings menu, 
can the speedometer display be changed from mph to km/h. The change 
between the display settings must be done intentionally and cannot be 
accomplished inadvertently.
    2. In the affected 2017-2019 MY Audi A3 vehicles, the two 
speedometer scales are noticeably different. Were the previous driver 
to have changed the display, a subsequent driver would be able to tell 
at a glance that the scale is not in mph.
    3. The indicated vehicle speed in km/h is 1.6 times greater than 
the speed in mph. Audi purports that if the vehicle operator changes 
the display to indicate km/h and later has not changed the display back 
to mph, the vehicle operator will clearly recognize that the vehicle is 
moving at a lower speed than intended and adjust their vehicle speed to 
match road and traffic conditions. Notice of the speed differential 
advises the vehicle operator to perform the necessary steps to adjust 
the speedometer back to mph (at the next appropriate opportunity).
    4. The 2017-2019 MY Audi A3 Owner Manuals contains information and 
instructions for changing the units displayed, via the Infotainment 
system, using the MMI Settings menu. Therefore, if a vehicle operator 
needs to change the display to indicate mph, instructions are 
available. As of January 08, 2019, production has been corrected, 
vehicles withheld at the factory have been corrected and unsold units 
will be corrected prior to sale.
    5. Additionally, Volkswagen is not aware of any field or customer 
complaints related to this condition, nor has it been made aware of any 
accidents or injuries that have occurred as a result of this issue.
    Volkswagen concluded that the subject noncompliance is 
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety, and that its 
petition to be exempted from providing notification of the 
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30118, and a remedy for the 
noncompliance, as required by 49 U.S.C. 30120, should be granted.
    NHTSA notes that the statutory provisions (49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 
30120(h)) that permit manufacturers to file petitions for a 
determination of inconsequentiality allow NHTSA to exempt manufacturers 
only from the duties found in sections 30118 and 30120, respectively, 
to notify owners, purchasers, and dealers of a defect or noncompliance 
and to remedy the defect or noncompliance. Therefore, any decision on 
this petition only applies to the subject vehicles that Volkswagen no 
longer controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance 
existed. However, any decision on this petition does not relieve 
vehicle distributors and dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer 
for sale, or introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate 
commerce of the noncompliant vehicles under their control after 
Volkswagen notified them that the subject noncompliance existed.

    Authority: (49 U.S.C. 30118, 30120: delegations of authority at 
49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8)

Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2019-21892 Filed 10-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P