The comment centers around the FTA's "Buy America" rule, which requires vehicles purchased with federal money by transit agencies to be assembled domestically from mostly American-made parts. Chrysler's call out of VPG's so-called monopoly comes after the FTA ruled to put back in place its Buy America rule for the purchase of wheelchair-accessible vans. The new ruling reverses a 2010 ruling that waived the Buy America rule because at the time no U.S. company met the requirements.

Michigan-based VPG builds the MV-1 at a plant in Indiana that formerly produced Hummers, using an assortment of American-made parts from various automakers; the MV-1's 4.6-liter V-8 and four-speed automatic comes from Ford, its rear differential comes from the Chevrolet Camaro, and much of the tooling used to build the MV-1 was previously used to make the HUMMER H2.

The FTA's decision is expected to benefit VPG and may hurt sales of the wheelchair-accessible versions of the two Chrysler minivans, which currently lead the market. Both the Town & Country and Grand Caravan are built in Canada.

"FTA notes that the current waiver has served to the near-exclusive benefit of Chrysler since 2010," said the FTA while dismissing Chrysler's monopoly claim. VPG's CEO John Walsh noted that his company still has to compete with Ford and many other smaller companies in the market.

Despite the decision, Chrysler doesn't think that the MV-1 is the best solution for those who purchase wheelchair-accessible vans. "Chrysler Group does not believe the MV-1 vehicle is a good substitute for Chrysler Group-manufactured minivans, modified through our established vendors, in serving the needs of disabled customers," said Chrysler spokesman Mike Palese toBloomberg.

The VPG MV-1 is one of the wheelchair-accessible vehicles exempt from New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow contract.

Source: Bloomberg