Notice2025-21528
Michelin North America Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 28, 2025
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Abstract
Michelin North America, Inc., (MNA), has determined that certain Michelin X Multi D+ replacement tires do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds), Specialty Tires, and Tires for Motorcycles. MNA filed an original noncompliance report dated March 25, 2022. MNA subsequently petitioned NHTSA on April 19, 2022, and later supplemented the petition on September 20, 2022, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This document announces the grant of MNA's petition.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 227 (Friday, November 28, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 227 (Friday, November 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54868-54869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-21528]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2022-0040; Notice 2]
Michelin North America Inc., Grant of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Grant of petition.
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SUMMARY: Michelin North America, Inc., (MNA), has determined that
certain Michelin X Multi D+ replacement tires do not fully comply with
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 119, New Pneumatic
Tires for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of More Than 4,536 kilograms
(10,000 pounds), Specialty Tires, and Tires for Motorcycles. MNA filed
an original noncompliance report dated March 25, 2022. MNA subsequently
petitioned NHTSA on April 19, 2022, and later supplemented the petition
on September 20, 2022, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is
inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This document
announces the grant of MNA's petition.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayton Lindley, Office of Vehicle
Safety Compliance, NHTSA, (325) 655-0547.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview: MNA determined that certain Michelin X Multi D+
replacement tires do not fully comply with paragraph S6.5(j) of FMVSS
No. 119, New Pneumatic Tires for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of More
Than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds), Specialty Tires, and Tires for
Motorcycles. (49 CFR 571.119).
MNA filed an original noncompliance report dated March 25, 2022,
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility
and Reports. MNA subsequently petitioned NHTSA on April 19, 2022, and
later supplemented the petition on September 20, 2022, 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 49 U.S.C. 30118(d) and 30120(h)
and 49 CFR part 556, Exemption for Inconsequential Defect or
Noncompliance.
Notice of receipt of MNA's petition was published with a 30-day
public comment period, on July 12, 2022, in the Federal Register (87 FR
41380). No comments were received. To view the petition and all
supporting documents log onto the Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) website at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a>. Then follow the online
search instructions to locate docket number ``NHTSA-2022-0040.''
II. Tires Involved: Approximately 160 Michelin X Multi D+, size
11R22.5, replacement tires, manufactured between May 26, 2019, and June
29, 2019, were reported by the manufacturer.
III. Noncompliance: MNA explains that the noncompliance was due to
a mold error in which the subject tires are missing the letter
designating the tire load range as required by paragraph S6.5(j) of
FMVSS No. 119. Specifically, the sidewalls of the subject tires omit
the designated load range letter ``H.''
IV. Rule Requirements: Paragraph S6.5(j) of FMVSS No. 119 includes
the requirements relevant to this petition. The subject tires are
required to be marked on each sidewall with the tire load range letter.
V. Summary of MNA's Petition: The following views and arguments
presented in this section, ``V. Summary of MNA's Petition,'' are the
views and arguments provided by MNA and do not reflect the views of the
Agency. MNA describes the subject noncompliance and contends that the
noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety.
MNA explains that the noncompliance was found when a Michelin Field
Engineer was notified that some of the subject tires ``had a different
tread pattern than the customer was accustomed to.'' MNA explains that
the subject tires were intended for the Asia and India tire markets,
yet ``entered the U.S. through channels outside of Michelin's
control.'' MNA states that the tires were certified to the applicable
U.S. FMVSS, and properly labeled with the certification symbol ``DOT''
despite being manufactured for markets other than the U.S. MNA also
states that it has taken corrective measures to block the SKUs in its
internal databases to prevent shipment and sale through MNA's
distribution channels.
MNA states that the subject tires were manufactured as a load index
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single/145 dual tire with a maximum single load rating of 3,150
kilograms or 6,940 pounds at 830 kPa or 120 psi cold inflation pressure
and a maximum dual load rating of 2,900 kilograms or 6,395 pounds at
830 kPa or 120 psi cold inflation pressure. MNA asserts that it tested
the subject tires and found that they comply with the necessary
performance requirements required by FMVSS No. 119. Except for the
subject noncompliance, MNA also claims that the subject tires meet all
marking requirements and ``are also marked with load indices for single
and dual applications,'' which MNA contends will ``provide both dealers
and consumers with the necessary information to enable proper selection
and application of the tires.'' MNA also states that the molds will be
updated to include the required load range letter designation and until
then, the SKU will remain blocked in its systems.
MNA says that NHTSA has previously granted petitions which it
believes are similar to the subject petition. MNA refers to the
granting of the petition submitted by China Manufacturers Alliance, LLC
(79 FR 78562), for truck and bus radial replacement tires that were
missing the load range letter.
MNA concludes by stating its belief that the subject noncompliance
is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety and 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.
On September 20, 2022, MNA supplemented its petition with evidence
that it relied on to certify that the tires comply with the performance
requirements of FMVSS No. 119.
VI. NHTSA's Analysis: In determining inconsequentiality of a
noncompliance, NHTSA focuses on the safety risk to individuals who
experience the type of event against which a recall would otherwise
protect.\1\ In general, NHTSA does not consider the absence of
complaints or injuries when determining if a noncompliance is
inconsequential to safety. The absence of complaints does not mean
vehicle occupants have not experienced a safety issue, nor does it mean
that there will not be safety issues in the future.\2\ Further, because
each inconsequential noncompliance petition must be evaluated on its
own facts and determinations are highly fact-dependent, NHTSA does not
consider prior determinations as binding precedent. Petitioners are
reminded that they have the burden of persuading NHTSA that the
noncompliance is inconsequential to safety.
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\1\ See Gen. Motors, LLC; Grant of Petition for Decision of
Inconsequential Noncompliance, 78 FR 35355 (June 12, 2013) (finding
noncompliance had no effect on occupant safety because it had no
effect on the proper operation of the occupant classification system
and the correct deployment of an air bag); Osram Sylvania Prods.
Inc.; Grant of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential
Noncompliance, 78 FR 46000 (July 30, 2013) (finding occupant using
noncompliant light source would not be exposed to significantly
greater risk than occupant using similar compliant light source).
\2\ See Morgan 3 Wheeler Limited; Denial of Petition for
Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 81 FR 21663, 21666 (Apr.
12, 2016); see also United States v. Gen. Motors Corp., 565 F.2d
754, 759 (D.C. Cir. 1977) (finding defect poses an unreasonable risk
when it ``results in hazards as potentially dangerous as sudden
engine fire, and where there is no dispute that at least some such
hazards, in this case fires, can definitely be expected to occur in
the future'').
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NHTSA has evaluated the merits of the inconsequential noncompliance
petition submitted by MNA and is granting MNA's request for relief from
notification and remedy based on the following:
1. Based on information submitted by MNA, NHTSA has no clear basis
to determine that the tires do not meet all performance requirements of
FMVSS No. 119, including the applicable static breaking energy
requirement for a load range ``H'' tire.
2. The Agency agrees that information intended to be conveyed by
the missing load range letter is contained in the other markings on the
tires, specifically: the maximum load and maximum permissible inflation
pressures that are marked on the sidewall of the subject tires. The
marked values correctly correlate to the maximum loads and pressure
listed by the ETRTO 2019 yearbook. The Agency believes that enough
information is present on the subject tires for both dealers and
consumers to properly select and use the tires.
3. NHTSA believes that the missing load range letter will not
affect the ability of the manufacturer or consumer to identify the
affected tires in the event of a recall.
VII. NHTSA's Decision: In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA
finds that MNA has met its burden of persuasion that the subject FMVSS
No. 119 noncompliance in the affected tires is inconsequential to motor
vehicle safety. Accordingly, MNA's petition is hereby granted and MNA
is consequently exempted from the obligation of providing notification
of, and a free remedy for, that noncompliance under 49 U.S.C. 30118 and
30120.
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, this decision
only applies to the subject tires that MNA no longer controlled at the
time it determined that the noncompliance existed. However, any
decision on this petition does not relieve tire distributors and
dealers of the prohibitions on the sale, offer for sale, or
introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of
the noncompliant tires under their control after MNA 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. 2025-21528 Filed 11-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 28, 2025.
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