Aston Martin Gets U.S. Government Exemption on Safety Standards
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.
More by Derek Kreindler
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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.
Come on Derek, how many times do I have to try to post a comment?
Lateral airbags, yeah, that's the ticket!
Q,M, James and Moneypenny all breathed a sigh of relief.