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WVTA: there might be a large loophole
Page 71
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EU plans for whole vehicle type
approval will apply to the initial registration but not to subsequent
mods. Kevin Swallow reports.
Following the recent Following the recent seminars run by the Department for Transport (MT) and the Society of Motor Manufacturers andTraders (SMMT) it has been reported that the INF is only concerned with the implementation of whole vehicle type approval (WVTA), not its policing.
If this proves correct anybody truck manufacturer, dealer, body/ trailer manufacturer-would be free to change a vehicle's registered specification without recourse to WVTA paperwork and cost.
It has been claimed that manufacturers can use this as a loophole to build one type of body, register the vehicle, then bring it back in through the back door, making changes without another WVTA registration.
To fan the flames even more, only a handful of van and truck dealers were involved with the seminars and they have been warned that responsibility could fall at their door.Aceording to Robin Dickeson, SMMT manager for commercial vehicle affairs, this was an unexpected conclusion. He was disappointed at the poor representation by the van and truck trade.
-Dealers do 99% of van and truck registrations and they are most likely to get caught out by the 'no approval, no registration, no sale' red line," he says. "They will need to ensure that bodybuilders talk to chassis makers and suppliers and that customers are kept in the loop too."
Whole body type approval will mostly affect light CVs. Dickeson adds that delivering a chassis to a bodybuilder and getting it back a few days or weeks later for PDI and registration without knowing more than the colour and weight of the body "simply won't work".
"All the parties will need to agree who will run the show and who will be responsible for the whole vehicle approval," he warns. "Otherwise no one will get paid. In most cases,it looks like the dealer will need to take responsibility."
• The DtT is keen for traders' opinion; see the questionnaire at www.dft.gov.uk. It plans to hold more seminars in the new year.