Fake Auto Spare Parts Undermine Safety, Original Makers’ Profits



Counterfeiting activities are the highest in the passenger cars segment, with 45% of the after-sales market captured by the counterfeiters.

Almost half the auto components sold in the replacement or after-sales market are fake, according to the speakers at a conference on piracy organized by industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).The proportion of fakes was 12% seven years ago and has risen to 47% now.

Apart from creating a huge financial loss to component makers, fake components also endanger the lives of users, the speakers said. They also hamper the performance of the automobile itself.The “bigger the brand, the stronger the counterfeiting as the profitability is larger”, Anubhav Jain, brand protection manager, Daimler Chrysler India Pvt. Ltd, said at the conference. His company makes Mercedez-Benz cars.

The speakers referred to the numbers put out by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, according to which almost half of the Rs13,587 crore auto components sold last year in the replacement market were fakes.Counterfeiting activities are the highest in the passenger cars segment, with 45% of the after-sales market captured by the counterfeiters in comparison with 15% for the commercial vehicles market.According to an analyst’s estimate, vehicle makers earn roughly 5-7% of their total revenue by selling components through their authorized dealers.

Bearings, brake pads, brake discs, rubber rings, supension parts, axle boots and supension parts are the most rampantly counterfeited products. “The use of counterfeited bearings and other critical components can even cause accidents and prove fatal,” said H.S. Zaveri, president, NRB Bearing Ltd.

Industry experts sought better co-operation from the government in terms of raiding manufacturers of fake products and finding a legal solution to the problem.

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