Vehicle spare parts are often forged

Expensive "bargain"
The shops in Russia are preparing the ContiTech Manager Ulrich Huth
currently not very much fun. The supplier is facing a wave of fake
Asian Conti-drive belts for car engines. "The design of packaging and
the belt is completely copied," says Huth.
The automotive supplier Continental is not alone with this problem.
Worldwide, according to industry estimates, is approximately every
tenth car spare parts from illegal sources - many of them in low
quality. With modern technology, want to fight back against the
original manufacturers product pirates.
Particularly affected are the world leader sees Bosch. "The stronger
the brand is, the more fake. Counterfeiting is becoming a problem,"
says Peter Tyroller member of the management. Similarly, the
assessment is the Stuttgart supplier Mahle. "There are an increasing
number of counterfeit products from Western manufacturers and this
will continue to grow," says the charge of the retail business manager
Franz Arnd

There is hardly a car part that is not copied. During the trade fair
Automechanika in Frankfurt, the main customs office in Darmstadt after
saying his spokeswoman Kirsten Jung 500 exhibitors from non-EU
countries, and controlled in 43 of them fakes confiscated. The
spectrum ranges from manufactured without a license Snoopy floor mats
with motifs of brake pads to complete steering gears.
Counterfeiting in Germany
Be forged parts according to expert assessment in the world, not only
in this often-maligned China. Plagiarism will be sold according to the
assessment of the Conti-developer Norbert Manger mostly free,
non-certified repair shops, now also increasingly on the German
market. But that apparent bargains can car owners as well as the
workshop to be costly. "Destroy one of these fake belts, he may cause
such great damage to the engine, that at least the cylinder head must
be replaced," said Conti-man Huth. In Germany would be expected in
this case, with repair costs of about € 1000. The costs will depend
not only the car driver or workshop. Also, the original part
manufacturer may be prosecuted for forgery, which carry their logo and
their logo, says Ulrich Jürgensen from German Business Action Group
against Product and Trademark Counterfeiting (APM), a lobbying
association for German industry.
Fakes bring the original manufacturer not only to their sales, but can
also destroy the image of a brand. This can have serious consequences
for the future of a company. "Innovation is not rewarded more if they
utilize a forger makes," says APM lawyer Juergensen.
Manufacturers rely on safety technology
To put a stop to piracy, the manufacturers are focusing on security
technology. "This is a huge growing market," says Martin Reinhardt of
Tesa SCRIBOS. The daughter Tesa 2003 has a digital hologram, the
Holospot brought to market. He ran a sort of unique serial number that
is glued to the computer generated and provided with up to four levels
of encryption on a product. Depending on the equipment, the price of
one cent Holospot digit range. "So that is profitable for mass
products," says Martin. For example, using the technique comes at the
supplier Siemens VDO. "We are already using this identification system
for the most copied products in our fuel systems and engine components
program," says the company.
Automechanika fairs such as make it easier for original equipment
manufacturers to detect counterfeits of their products, especially
those responsible aware of exhibitors and visitors to this issue.
"Counterfeit goods can be confiscated by the authorities," said Marcus
Kuehne-design at the German Patent and Trademark Office. For companies
to enforce their claims, however, they must register their rights. "It
just costs money and small companies have to always ask if this is
worth it for them."