Al-Futtaim Motors has participated in a raid with inspectors from the Al Ain Economic Development Department and legal authorities that led to the confiscation of 100,000 counterfeit Toyota and Lexus spare parts, including air and oil filters, worth a combined $2.0m (AED 7.6 million).
The raid was the culmination of months of investigation and organisation between the parties, including efforts by Al-Futtaim Motors to train more than 330 government officials in 2016 to discern between original and fake parts to complement its anti-counterfeit efforts.
“We have continued our anti-counterfeit efforts with government entities across the UAE, sustaining the great results that we got in 2015 and 2016,” said Ralf Zimmermann, director of after sales at Al-Futtaim Motors.
“It’s imperative that customers know the importance of using only genuine parts on their vehicles, as doing otherwise can put lives at great risk. Fake parts do not meet the quality and safety regulations of either the manufacturer or the government, in turn heavily compromising reliability and safety.”
A total of 31 raids were conducted in 2016, during which one major raid alone resulted in more than 10,400 pieces of counterfeit products being confiscated, which included brake pads and head gasket kits, worth approximately $272k (AED1m).
During the third quarter alone, more than 47,300 counterfeit products were confiscated, including more than 22,300 pieces of counterfeit oil filters worth approximately $163k (AED 600k).
This was in addition to more than 10,000 pieces of counterfeit brake pad kits worth $327m (AED 1.2 million), and almost 8,000 pieces of counterfeit air filters worth approximately $163k (AED 600k). In total, nearly $10.9m (AED 40 million) in counterfeit goods were confiscated during these raids.
