Friday, August 6th, 2021
Brake pads made from sawdust
Product counterfeiters challenge automakers
Criminals across all industries earn a lot of money with counterfeit products. The car manufacturers are also feeling this more and more – and have recently fallen further behind in the fight against product pirates.
Anyone looking for original spare parts for their car on the relevant sales platforms on the Internet will find themselves in a jumble of offers. Wheel caps from Mercedes-Benz are offered to potential customers in abundance, such as headlight switches from VW or BMW emblems for the bonnet. Much is described as original manufacturer goods – but what is really real and what is (well) counterfeited often remains in the dark for laypeople.
If you believe the major automakers, this is a growing problem. More and more criminals are offering more and more counterfeit original parts on more and more platforms, we hear from the industry. The main distribution point of the machinations is – as in other criminal areas – the internet, as confirmed by the German customs. The corona pandemic has caused online sales to skyrocket across all industries – and in view of the fact that workshops and car dealerships are at least temporarily closed in many places around the world, it has also helped counterfeit auto parts.
Upon request, the Volkswagen Group reported more than 100 raids in 2020 for its core brand VW Passenger Cars alone, in which products worth around 6.5 million euros were confiscated. At Daimler, there is even talk of 550 raids and 1.7 million counterfeit products in the previous year, the company does not name the equivalent in euros. However, Renata Jungo Brüngger, the board member responsible for integrity and law, says: “You can earn money there like in drug trafficking.” Online trading and the corona pandemic would have simplified the counterfeiters’ business. BMW also declares that it is affected by counterfeit products, but does not provide any figures.
According to its own information, Daimler recorded a slight increase in the number of counterfeits seized compared to the previous year. The Stuttgart-based company attribute the fact that the number of seized piracy products has not increased significantly to the numerous corona lockdowns in a number of countries. Many raids had to be postponed and many competent courts temporarily suspended their work. The forgers were pleased.
Raids against product piracy
According to the industry, most of the imitations go to the EU and the USA – but when it comes to seizures, other places are much more lucrative for investigators. Namely, those where the counterfeits are manufactured, stored and later turned over. These are mostly countries in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. “It is our goal to have the counterfeits seized directly at the place of their origin or at the transhipment point before they reach the hypermarket,” said Daimler. In many cases, forgers from organized crime had their goods produced under “inhumane conditions” without regard to environmental standards, occupational safety or human rights.
With extensive research and legal steps, the corporations try to defend themselves against product piracy, but that is tedious, as you can hear. This is due, for example, to poorly functioning state structures in those countries in which the forgers are located, but also partly to the investigators’ lack of detailed knowledge. Who can tell a fake Mercedes wheel cover from a real one straight away? That is also one reason why companies try to be represented by their own employees during raids – these are supposed to serve local authorities as experts.
Apart from this, the corporations are trying to have counterfeits offered on online sales platforms deleted. For the Volkswagen core brand VW Pkw alone, several thousand offers with products that infringe trademarks are discovered every day, says a spokesman.
All brands affected
Once the shipments with the ordered spare parts are on their way, they usually have to pass customs in this country. Some things are discovered, but most of them are probably not. The General Customs Directorate based in Bonn reports that all common car brands are now affected by the trade in counterfeit spare parts. These are often things that are used to change the appearance of a vehicle. In addition, security-relevant spare parts such as brake pads, filters, exhaust systems and rims were part of the common counterfeit portfolio. Daimler board member Jungo Brüngger says: “We have also seen brake pads made of sawdust.”
The Stuttgart-based company warns that typical alarm signals for counterfeit products are, for example, a “conspicuously” low price or sales via dubious online sources. Customs advise traditionally relying on established businesses. “The safest way to prevent the unwanted purchase of counterfeit products, especially in the security-relevant automotive sector, is certainly to buy them directly from or through specialist dealers,” it says. When buying spare parts from a specialist dealer, the problem of counterfeiting can be “completely ruled out”. When buying parts on the Internet on platforms that are not operated by the branded trade itself, the risk of being caught by a forgery is “much higher”.
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