Actually... the whole "certified" thing is a myth.  

While it is true that any vehicle sold by a manufacturer is required to meet U.S. standards (both safety & emissions), no agency actually certifies the vehicles.  By rule, manufacturers are self-certifying.  It is their responsibility to ensure that their vehicles meet the standards.  

Kind of explains a lot of those recalls, eh?

Cheers, 

Jeff (Registered Importer with the NHTSA)

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Loren Busch
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 8:04 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Euro Safety and Emission Requirements was Just like a Vanagon, but modern..

On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 6:52 AM, Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@yahoo.com>wrote:

> "Must be something other than emissions control that kept these from being
> marketed here."
>
> Focus groups probably play a big part, but it's most likely the cost of
> certification (every single driveline configuration to be sold must be
> certified; each gas or diesel engine with each transmission) compared to the
> projected return.  And then there's the safety requirements.  Lots of
> gummint agencies involved in gettin' stuff legal for sale here.
>

That prompts a question that I've never seen addressed on these lists:  How
do the European emission and crash tests compare to the US?  I've seen
references to rather Draconian emission rules in Germany re: what happened
to the Zebra Safari as soon as they drove into Germany but no real
comparisons.  We talk all the time about what it takes to be legal in North
America but I haven't seen comparisons to Europe.

>
>