(a) Statutory terms. The terms allied supplier, carline, country of origin, dealer, foreign content, manufacturer, new passenger motor vehicle, of U.S./Canadian origin, outside supplier, passenger motor vehicle, passenger motor vehicle equipment, percentage (by value), State, and value added in the United States and Canada, defined in 49 U.S.C. 32304(a), are used in accordance with their statutory meanings except as further defined in paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) Other terms and further definitions.

(1) Administrator means the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(2) Allied supplier means a supplier of passenger motor vehicle equipment that is wholly owned by the manufacturer, or in the case of a joint venture vehicle assembly arrangement, any supplier that is wholly owned by one member of the joint venture arrangement. A supplier is considered to be wholly owned by the manufacturer if a common parent company owns both the manufacturer and the supplier, or if a group of related companies own both the manufacturer and the supplier and no outside interests (interests other than the manufacturer itself or companies which own the manufacturer) own the supplier.

(3) Carline means a name denoting a group of vehicles which has a degree of commonality in construction (e.g., body, chassis). Carline does not consider any level of decor or opulence and is not generally distinguished by such characteristics as roof line, number of doors, seats, or windows, except for light duty trucks. Carline is not distinguished by country of manufacture, final assembly point, engine type, or driveline. Light duty trucks are considered to be different carlines than passenger cars. A carline includes all motor vehicles of a given nameplate. Special purpose vehicles, vans, and pickup trucks are classified as separate carlines.

(4) Final assembly means all operations involved in the assembly of a vehicle, performed at the final assembly point including but not limited to assembly of body panels, painting, final chassis assembly, trim installation, except engine and transmission fabrication and assembly and the fabrication of motor vehicle equipment components produced at the same final assembly point using forming processes such as stamping, machining or molding processes.

(5) Final assembly point means the plant, factory, or other place, which is a building or series of buildings in close proximity, where a new passenger motor vehicle is produced or assembled from passenger motor vehicle equipment and from which such vehicle is delivered to a dealer or importer in such a condition that all component parts necessary to the mechanical operation of such automobile are included with such vehicle whether or not such component parts are permanently installed in or on such vehicle. For multi-stage vehicles, the final assembly point is the location where the first stage vehicle is assembled.

(6) Outside supplier means:

(i) A non-allied supplier of passenger motor vehicle equipment to a manufacturer's allied supplier and

(ii) Anyone other than an allied supplier who ships directly to the manufacturer's final assembly point.

(7) Passenger motor vehicle equipment means any system, subassembly, or component received at the final assembly point for installation on, or attachment to, such vehicle at the time of its initial shipment by the manufacturer to a dealer for sale to an ultimate purchaser. Passenger motor vehicle equipment also includes any system, subassembly, or component received by an allied supplier from an outside supplier for incorporation into equipment supplied by the allied supplier to the manufacturer with which it is allied.

(8) Person means an individual, partnership, corporation, business trust, or any organized group of persons.

(9) Ultimate purchaser means with respect to any new passenger motor vehicle, the first person, other than a dealer purchasing in its capacity as a dealer, who in good faith purchases such new passenger motor vehicle for purposes other than resale.

[59 FR 37330, July 21, 1994, as amended at 64 FR 40780, July 28, 1999]