(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) From brake pads to airbags and oil filters, counterfeit parts have turned into the "cancer of the car industry", a booming illicit enterprise that yields billions of dollars and can put motorists at serious risk.
"Copy" spare parts, which are manufactured without quality controls, are cheap and easily available. A wide variety can be found in Satwa and Naif in Dubai, or among the many auto shops in Sharjah. Fake parts are so common that they account for 12.5 per cent of the $3.8 billion trade in car parts in the UAE, according to a 2007 study by the Brand Owners Protection Group, an anti-piracy organisation. The figure is now believed to be significantly higher.
That percentage is even higher for the GCC as a whole, according to a separate study by the market research firm Frost & Sullivan: 30 per cent of $8.85 billion.
Fake parts are a threat both to drivers and car manufacturers who fear that the reputation of their vehicles can be damaged by malfunctions - from fires to failing brakes - caused by shoddy counterfeit parts.
"Counterfeit is known as the cancer of the car industry," said Samir Cherfan, managing director of Nissan Middle East. "It is a phenomenon that keeps growing as part of the parts industry and can have a very negative impact on automotive brands and industry."
"Safety is always the main concern when it comes to counterfeits," Cherfan told Khaleej Times. "Imagine you are driving a car with a brake system designed to stop you in the minimum required distance, then you replace the brake pads with counterfeits which are not of the same quality and performance as the genuine ones.
"When you apply brakes, your car will not stop you in the ... distance you are used to."
A video provided by Nissan shows counterfeit brake pads bursting into flames when pressure was applied. A separate video shows counterfeit airbags failing to open in a collision, resulting in the head and torso of a crash dummy being smashed against the steering wheel.
There are no estimates on deaths and injuries due to malfunctioning counterfeit parts in the UAE, but the number is thought to be high.
Police raids
Police raids on auto shops selling counterfeit parts often result in fines or even closure of establishments.
Since fake parts can be difficult to spot, local authorities invite manufacturers' representatives on some raids. Nissan, for example, participated in nine raids between January and October 2014. They resulted in the seizure of parts that could have put more than 21,000 customers in danger, according to Nissan estimates.
Luay Al Shurafa, General Motors Middle East's director of customer care and aftersales, said buyers should be vigilant when buying spare parts.
"If the price seems too good to be true, it often is," he said. "Consumers should take note of the car part and its packaging. If the overall quality seems poor or if there are misspelled words on the product or packaging then these can indicate that the part is not genuine."
Cherfan noted that counterfeiters are growing increasingly sophisticated, making the identification of fake parts ever more difficult.
"Nowadays, with the new available technology, ... imitators are quicker in identifying their mistakes and modify their parts and packages to look similar to the genuine parts," he said. "As a consequence, currently an expert eye from the genuine manufacturer side is needed to identify if the part is genuine or not."
Combatting fakes
Local authorities say they have been working hard to stamp out the illicit trade.
Last year for example, as many as two million duplicate parts worth well over Dh20 million were seized following raids on 100 warehouses and parts shops, according to Ibrahim Behzad, Director of the Intellectual Property Section of the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Economic Development - Dubai.
"A task force has been set up at the Intellectual Property Protection Section to monitor and keep an eye on such violations, with a focus on booking the warehouses in which fake goods and products are stored," Behzad added.
Additionally, Behzad urged legitimate trade agencies to be weary of placing high prices on legitimate parts, which, he believes, provides opportunity for fraudsters to sell their cheaper versions at the expense of people's safety.
A draft law to combat counterfeit goods was passed in 2014. Once approved by the UAE Cabinet, the new law will impose harsher penalties on counterfeiters of all kinds, including two-year prison sentences and fines of up to Dh1 million.
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