We are not talking about the high volume performance cars sometimes introduced at SEMA – with most parts available at a dealer or speed shops. This is a niche, but potentially extremely lucrative, job-creating market. Click to Enlarge.
Responding to SEMA’s lawsuit to allow production of replica vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued late last week before the holidays proposed regulations to implement the 2015 Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act. (AutoInformed SEMA Sues U.S. DOT for Stopping Replica Car Law)
SEMA sued the U.S. Department of Transportation last October for failure to issue required regulations. Not surprising here that an agency run by President Trump’s political appointees is allegedly defying a 2015 law – the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) – passed by Congress to let low-volume automakers sell up to 325 replica cars each year that resemble production vehicles manufactured at least 25 years ago.
The FAST Act set a deadline of December 4, 2016, for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue any necessary regulations to implement the law. The agency sat on the legally required need for regulations in defiance of Congress. Sound familiar?
Prior to the FAST Act, the United States had one regulatory system for automakers. This was established in the 1960s and written for (and/or by automakers via lobbyists) companies that mass-produce vehicles.
The lack of flexibility – in SEMA’s and many critics’ views – precluded smaller businesses from manufacturing turn-key vehicles. With a potential lucrative market for replica vehicles under the new law, companies made investments and took customer orders on the assumption that sales could begin in late 2016.
However, NHTSA failed to issue regulations or undertake any other action allowing the small automakers to produce and sell vehicles as permitted by law.
“SEMA welcomes NHTSA’s proposed regulations and urges the agency to quickly finalize the rules,” said SEMA President and CEO Christopher J. Kersting. “The replica car law was enacted to much fanfare in 2015, with customers eager to buy classic cars celebrating America’s automotive heritage. Four years later, companies are now poised to hire workers, gear-up for production, and provide consumers the chance to buy turnkey replica cars.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board have issued guidelines and regulations covering the engine packages to be installed in these replica vehicles.
NHTSA is providing 30 days for public comments on its proposed rule. SEMA will be submitting comments on behalf of the industry to urge the most favorable regulations so that companies can begin production.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
SEMA Lawsuit – NHTSA Issues Draft Replica Car Rule
We are not talking about the high volume performance cars sometimes introduced at SEMA – with most parts available at a dealer or speed shops. This is a niche, but potentially extremely lucrative, job-creating market. Click to Enlarge.
Responding to SEMA’s lawsuit to allow production of replica vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued late last week before the holidays proposed regulations to implement the 2015 Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act. (AutoInformed SEMA Sues U.S. DOT for Stopping Replica Car Law)
SEMA sued the U.S. Department of Transportation last October for failure to issue required regulations. Not surprising here that an agency run by President Trump’s political appointees is allegedly defying a 2015 law – the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) – passed by Congress to let low-volume automakers sell up to 325 replica cars each year that resemble production vehicles manufactured at least 25 years ago.
The FAST Act set a deadline of December 4, 2016, for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue any necessary regulations to implement the law. The agency sat on the legally required need for regulations in defiance of Congress. Sound familiar?
Prior to the FAST Act, the United States had one regulatory system for automakers. This was established in the 1960s and written for (and/or by automakers via lobbyists) companies that mass-produce vehicles.
The lack of flexibility – in SEMA’s and many critics’ views – precluded smaller businesses from manufacturing turn-key vehicles. With a potential lucrative market for replica vehicles under the new law, companies made investments and took customer orders on the assumption that sales could begin in late 2016.
However, NHTSA failed to issue regulations or undertake any other action allowing the small automakers to produce and sell vehicles as permitted by law.
“SEMA welcomes NHTSA’s proposed regulations and urges the agency to quickly finalize the rules,” said SEMA President and CEO Christopher J. Kersting. “The replica car law was enacted to much fanfare in 2015, with customers eager to buy classic cars celebrating America’s automotive heritage. Four years later, companies are now poised to hire workers, gear-up for production, and provide consumers the chance to buy turnkey replica cars.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board have issued guidelines and regulations covering the engine packages to be installed in these replica vehicles.
NHTSA is providing 30 days for public comments on its proposed rule. SEMA will be submitting comments on behalf of the industry to urge the most favorable regulations so that companies can begin production.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.