Aston Martin Gets U.S. Government Exemption on Safety Standards

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Aston Martin won a crucial exemption from the U.S. government regarding safety standards, allowing them to continue selling their line-up of sports cars in America.

By denying an exemption to Aston Martin, the government would have effectively prevented Aston Martin from selling their products in the United States market, as the cost of retrofitting or redesigning their cars to meet standards would be too expensive. In a statement released by NHTSA, the regulator declared

“The basis for the grant is that compliance would cause substantial economic hardship to a low volume manufacturer that has tried in good faith to comply with the standard.”

According to Reuters, Aston Martin sold just 4,200 cars worldwide last year. The exemptions will continue until summer, 2017 at the latest.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Noble713 Noble713 on Nov 03, 2014

    This should set a precedent for something like a kit car company to offer turn-key fully built cars with no airbags if they capped annual production @ 1000 cars. Maybe then we could get some no frills, lightweight sports coupes and RWD sedans that are comparatively cheap.

    • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Nov 03, 2014

      Not quite. They were compliant with US safety regs until this most recent change with the s-de airbags. They have the OTHER airbags, and other safety measures like traction control and pedestrian bumper heights.

  • Mitchw Mitchw on Nov 03, 2014

    Come on Derek, how many times do I have to try to post a comment?

  • NeilM NeilM on Nov 03, 2014

    Lateral airbags, yeah, that's the ticket!

  • Olddavid Olddavid on Nov 03, 2014

    Q,M, James and Moneypenny all breathed a sigh of relief.

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