Notice2025-24011
Volkswagen Group of 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
December 30, 2025
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Abstract
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen), has determined that certain model year (MY) 2019-2020 Audi A6, MY 2019-2020 Audi A7, and MY 2020 Audi A6 Allroad motor vehicles do not fully comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, Tire Selection and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation Vehicle Trailer Load Carrying Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less. Volkswagen filed a noncompliance report dated May 20, 2020. Volkswagen simultaneously petitioned NHTSA on May 20, 2020, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This notice announces the grant of Volkswagen's petition.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 246 (Tuesday, December 30, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61217-61218]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-24011]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2020-0082; Notice 2]
Volkswagen Group of 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: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen), has determined
that certain model year (MY) 2019-2020 Audi A6, MY 2019-2020 Audi A7,
and MY 2020 Audi A6 Allroad motor vehicles do not fully comply with
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 110, Tire Selection
and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation Vehicle Trailer Load Carrying
Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles with a GVWR of 4,536 Kilograms
(10,000 pounds) or less. Volkswagen filed a noncompliance report dated
May 20, 2020. Volkswagen simultaneously petitioned NHTSA on May 20,
2020, for a decision that the subject noncompliance is inconsequential
as it relates to motor vehicle safety. This notice announces the grant
of Volkswagen's petition.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ahmad Barnes, Office of Vehicle Safety
Compliance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
telephone (202) 366-7236.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Overview: Volkswagen has determined that certain MY 2019-2020
Audi A6, MY 2019-2020 Audi A7, and MY 2020 Audi A6 Allroad motor
vehicles do not fully comply with the requirements of paragraph S4.3(c)
of FMVSS No. 110, Tire Selection and Rims and Motor Home/Recreation
Vehicle Trailer Load Carrying Capacity Information for Motor Vehicles
with a GVWR of 4,536 Kilograms (10,000 pounds) or Less (49 CFR
571.110). Volkswagen filed a noncompliance report dated May 20, 2020,
pursuant to 49 CFR part 573, Defect and Noncompliance Responsibility
and Reports. Volkswagen simultaneously petitioned NHTSA on May 20,
2020, 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 Volkswagen's petition was published with a 30-
day public comment period, on October 23, 2020, in the Federal Register
(85 FR 67605). 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-2020-0082.''
II. Vehicles Involved: Approximately 652 MY 2019-2020 Audi A6, MY
2019-2020 Audi A7, and MY 2020 Audi A6 Allroad motor vehicles,
manufactured between September 24, 2018, and May 14, 2020, are
potentially involved.
III. Noncompliance: Volkswagen explains that the noncompliance is
that the subject vehicles are equipped with a tire placard label
(located on the driver's side B-pillar) that was incorrectly printed to
include cold tire inflation pressure information for a spare tire that
is not present in the affected vehicles and therefore, does not meet
the requirements specified in paragraph S4.3(c) of FMVSS No. 110.
Specifically, since the subject vehicles are not equipped with a spare
tire, the tire placard label should contain the word ``none'' in the
cold tire inflation pressure section.
IV. FMVSS Requirements: Paragraph S4.3(c) of FMVSS No. 110 includes
the requirements relevant to this petition. If no spare tire is
provided, the word ``none'' must replace the manufacturer's recommended
cold tire inflation pressure.
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 and do
not reflect the views of NHTSA. Volkswagen describes the subject
noncompliance and contends that the noncompliance is inconsequential as
it relates to motor vehicle safety.
In support of its petition, Volkswagen offers the following
reasoning:
Volkswagen contends that the subject noncompliance does not affect
the subject vehicle's drivability, safety, or tire wear because the
incorrect information provided on the tire placard label pertains to a
spare tire that is not equipped on the vehicle. Volkswagen reports that
as of May 15, 2020, the subject noncompliance has been corrected in
production. Volkswagen says that the affected vehicles held at the
factory, as well as unsold vehicles in dealer inventory, will be
corrected before being sold. Volkswagen adds that it is unaware of any
field or customer complaints related to the subject noncompliance, nor
is it aware of any accidents or injuries occurring as a result of the
subject noncompliance.
Volkswagen concludes by contending 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.
Volkswagen's complete petition and all supporting documents are
available on <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> by following the online search
instructions to locate the docket number as listed in the title of this
notice.
VI. NHTSA's Analysis: The burden of establishing the
inconsequentiality of a failure to comply with a performance
requirement in an FMVSS is substantial and difficult to meet.
Accordingly, NHTSA has not found many such noncompliances
inconsequential.\1\
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\1\ Cf. Gen. Motors Corporation; Ruling on Petition for
Determination of Inconsequential Noncompliance, 69 FR 19897, 19899
(Apr. 14, 2004) (citing prior cases where noncompliance was expected
to be imperceptible, or nearly so, to vehicle occupants or
approaching drivers).
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In determining the 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.\2\ 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.\3\ Further, because each
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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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\2\ 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).
\3\ 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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Volkswagen explains that the noncompliance is that the vehicle
placard on the subject vehicles states a cold inflation pressure for
the spare tires, but no spare tire was equipped and the placard should
state ``none.'' The intent of FMVSS No. 110 is to ensure that vehicles
are equipped with tires appropriate to handle maximum vehicle loads and
to prevent overloading.
FMVSS No. 110 requires that the original tires installed on a
vehicle and the tires listed on the vehicle placard be appropriate for
the maximum loading conditions of the vehicle. However, the vehicles at
issue are neither intended to have a spare tire or be equipped with a
spare tire even though a cold inflation pressure is erroneously listed
for the spare tire on the vehicle placard with no other information for
the spare tire size. Since there is no spare tire size listed on the
placard, the subject vehicles would not be at risk of being overloaded
with only a cold inflation pressure information listed.
Given the above factors, NHTSA agrees with Volkswagen that the
subject noncompliance is inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and
that there is no risk of possible underinflating or overloading spare
tires that are not present in the subject vehicles.
VII. NHTSA's Decision: In consideration of the foregoing, NHTSA
finds that Volkswagen has met its burden of persuasion that the subject
FMVSS No. 110 noncompliance in the affected vehicles is inconsequential
to motor vehicle safety. Accordingly, Volkswagen's petition is hereby
granted, and Volkswagen 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 vehicles that Volkswagen no longer
controlled at the time it determined that the noncompliance existed.
However, the granting of 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; 49 CFR part 556, delegations of
authority at 49 CFR 1.95 and 501.8)
Otto G. Matheke III,
Director, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance.
[FR Doc. 2025-24011 Filed 12-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 30, 2025.
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