JEDDAH: Counterfeit parts present a real danger for driver and vehicle safety, and greatly increase the potential for expensive repairs and road accidents. This is emphasized over and over again, yet their use is widespread.
Counterfeit parts are also known as the cancer of the automobile industry. It is a phenomenon that continues to grow in the parts market and has a very negative impact on automotive brands and the industry as a whole.
This is emphasized by industry leaders, including Samir Cherfan, managing director of Nissan Middle East.
By imitating the brand image while providing customers with cheap quality, it potentially has a strong impact on a customer's brand quality perception.
"As one of the leading brands in the Middle East with significant sales and aftermarket parts business, we are always a target for imitators and counterfeit suppliers," Cherfan says.
Counterfeit parts pose many dangers to passengers and problems to the vehicles they are installed on. For example, counterfeit brake pads greatly reduce the stopping power of a vehicle as opposed to the genuine ones, which increases the possibility of accidents.
Another dangerous example, Cherfan gives, is counterfeit airbags which may not deploy properly, if at all, during impact which can greatly increase fatalities of drivers and passengers.
Counterfeit parts are not built to the quality and features specified in genuine parts, and can lead to catastrophic damage to a vehicle and result in expensive repairs. For example, counterfeit oil filters can degenerate much faster due to substandard quality materials and may disintegrate, causing the debris to mix with the oil and lead to major engine seizure and failure. Repairing engine damage from such a simple component is expensive.
In is against this background that Nissan in particular is committed to educate its customers across the region to ensure their safety on one hand and prolong their satisfaction and joy of their vehicles on the other.
Some of the activities Nissan undertakes include supporting road safety initiatives across the region.
One recent example in the UAE was an initiative that serves as a communication, improvement and educational platform for all traffic participants in the UAE where Nissan sponsored the Original Spare Parts section.
The major Japanese car maker, in cooperation with its dealers, also regularly conducts regional "Genuine versus counterfeit" awareness campaigns through its aftersales marketing activities to build awareness of implications of using fake parts on safety and reliability.
What's more, Nissan is committed to educate its customers across the region to ensure their safety first, and also to prolong their satisfaction and joy with the Nissan vehicle.
Some of the activities Nissan undertakes include supporting road safety initiatives across the region. One recent example in the UAE was an initiative that serves as a communication, improvement and educational platform for all traffic participants in the UAE where Nissan sponsored the Original Spare Parts section.
Nissan is also committed to legally fight against counterfeit manufacturing locally and globally by supporting local authorities in conducting raids and cooperating with the wider automotive industry to stamp out the counterfeit market.
Nissan is closely involved with the safety and security stakeholders of a country by providing insights and training to customs, economic department, law enforcement and various ministry representatives across the region.
The goal is to raise awareness and know-how among these stakeholders in order to help them easily identify and deal with such dangerous products. For example, Nissan has conducted eight seminars this year alone on counterfeit parts. Nissan also conducts surveys and research across its key markets to identify the threats of counterfeit parts on society.
Nissan is also committed to legally fight against counterfeit manufacturing locally and globally.
© Arab News 2016
