NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Audit Query AQ15-001: Safety Act Violations
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Audit Query AQ15-001 on April 29, 2015 and closed it on October 2, 2017. NHTSA's investigations file lists the 2012–2013 Triumph Street Triple for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- AQ15-001 (also written AQ15001)
- Investigation type
- Audit Query An administrative investigation into compliance with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting Early Warning data on time or carrying out a recall.
- Status
- Closed October 2, 2017
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Triumph Motorcycles America, Ltd.
- Component
- Steering
- Vehicles and equipment
- 2012–2013 Triumph Street Triple
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Audit Query AQ15-001.
In a Consent Order executed on August 28, 2015, Triumph Motorcycles (America) Ltd., and its parent company, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd., (collectively, ?Triumph) admitted that Triumph violated the Safety Act by failing to file certain quarterly reports on safety recalls in a timely manner; failing to furnish NHTSA with copies of notices, service bulletins, and other communications sent to more than one manufacturer, distributor, dealer, lessor, lessee, owner, or purchaser; failing to submit accurate early warning reports; and that it failed to respond to NHTSA's April 29, 2015 Special Order by the deadline.
It also admitted that it violated the Safety Act to the extent that it failed to submit the required Part 573 Report to NHTSA within five working days after it determined that a safety-related defect existed in vehicles and to the extent that it failed to submit a copy of its proposed owner notification letters.
As part of the Consent Order, Triumph agreed to a total civil penalty of $2,900,000 for its violations of the Safety Act.
The penalty consists of a cash payment of $1,400,000; stipulated deferred penalties of $1,000,000, and a commitment to spend at least $500,000 to ensure satisfactory completion of performance obligations.
The performance obligations in the Consent Order include submission of reports to NHTSA, retention of an independent third party consultant, creation of best practices, employee training, and auditing of all aspects of Triumph's Safety Act reporting and defects notification.
Based on the Consent Order, Triumph's admissions that it violated the law, and its ongoing performance obligations, this audit query, AQ15-001, is closed.
Closure of this AQ has no bearing on the terms of the Consent Order, including Triumph's ongoing performance obligations or legal obligations, and does not represent a determination by the agency as to Triumph's performance under the Consent Order to date.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Audit Query AQ15-001. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Triumph
All Triumph recallsWhat an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for AQ15-001
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.