Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Interior Trunk Release

This document responds to two petitions for reconsideration by Porsche Cars North America, Inc., and Ferrari S.p.A of a new Federal motor vehicle safety standard that requires passenger cars with a trunk to be equipped with a release latch inside the trunk compartment. Porsche requested that the agency exclude the cars having a front trunk with a front-opening lid from the standard. Both petitioners asked that the performance requirements applicable to these cars be revised. In addition, Ferrari asked that manufacturers of these cars be given additional lead time to bring them into compliance. The agency is denying the request to exclude these cars from the standard and the request to grant their manufacturers additional lead time. However, it is granting the request to modify the performance requirements by increasing the speed threshold at which the interior release of a front trunk with a front-opening lid must release only the primary latch. The petitioners also requested that the agency modify the requirement that manufacturers irrevocably select a compliance option by the time they certify compliance to permit a manufacturer to modify or replace the interior trunk release system during the production period of a model. The agency believes this change is unnecessary for the purposes for which it is being sought. Finally, the petitioners requested that the agency issue detailed test procedures as soon as possible. NHTSA is developing detailed test procedures and will publish them as soon as possible.