NHTSA Revokes Registered Importer Program Eligibility for 2 Importers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is revoking the registration of two vehicle importers for submitting false and misleading certifications of conformance for vehicles they imported, NHTSA said in a March 14 news release. Bisbee Importing of Davison, Michigan, and Metro Auto Importer of Clinton Township, Michigan, no longer will be allowed to legally import through NHTSA’s Registered Importer program “due to serious and systemic violations of federal safety requirements,” the agency said.
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According to NHTSA, an investigation of Bisbee found that the company imported over 29,000 vehicles without the required conformity packages. “These compliance issues spanned multiple years,” the agency said. Likewise, Metro Auto Importer was found to have imported at least 2,900 vehicles without conformity packages, including 370 while the company was under investigation. NHTSA “determined that revocation was appropriate for the company since it repeatedly failed to submit the required conformity packages,” it said.
“Registered importers are in positions of public trust,” NHTSA acting Administrator Ann Carlson said in the news release. “These companies have the responsibility to ensure that the vehicles they bring into the country meet all U.S. safety standards and do not pose unreasonable risk to others on the road. When registered importers abuse that trust, NHTSA will act to protect the American public.”
As former registered importers, both Bisbee and Metro Auto Importer will still have to “notify owners and remedy safety-related defects and noncompliances of the vehicles imported through the Registered Importer program,” NHTSA said.