Counterfeiting affects us all

Unapproved and technically inferior vehicle parts account for an estimated 36,000 deaths and 1.5 million accidents every year. Because the OEM’s specifications for development, production, and material selection are typically not complied with, counterfeits commonly fail to perform to standard. Fatal malfunctions and damage are the outcome, with no grounds for warranties or claims for compensation in the majority of cases.

MAHLE products are essential to safety. Malfunctions, and even failures, resulting from poor quality can have devastating consequences for health, and serious legal and economic implications.

Impact on

Consumers

- Health hazards and risk of accidents increase

- Warranties and claims for compensation cannot be asserted

- Environmental risks grow

- Other vehicle parts are subjected to wear

Dealerships

- Risk of incurring costly warranty claims

- Monetary fines and imprisonment

- Price dumping, which depresses and distorts the market

Manufacturers

- Suffer damage to their reputation

- Experience a decrease in brand value

- Bear increased costs for security measures

- Endure sales losses

- Each year, 2.5 million jobs are lost worldwide due to product piracy. At the same time, tax revenue and social security contributions drop, and the innovative strength of original parts manufacturers is weakened.

Economy as a whole

- Negative environmental impact

- Loss of tax and social security revenues

- Negative impact on innovative strength

Our advice: Only purchase goods from trustworthy distributors and scrutinise cheap offers particularly closely.

MAHLE’s protection strategy

We communicate with other companies from the automotive industry on an ongoing basis to share information about illegal copies and counterfeiting of brands or patents. Together with our partners, we discuss synergies and best practices, analyse experiences, and develop new measures to counteract all forms of product piracy.

Every occurrence of brand or patent infringement discovered by MAHLE is prosecuted. MAHLE follows a zero-tolerance policy, employing all legal means against manufacturers of fake goods.

Our approach involves:

- Supporting our sales and product development

- Monitoring the markets

- Maintaining a local presence at trade fairs around the world

- Carrying out price analyses and test purchases

- Training customers and customs officials

- Cooperating with distributors, competitors, and authorities

- Promoting customs campaigns directed against the import and export of suspicious goods, as well as supporting an increase in border seizures in our role as a member of the World Customs Organization (WCO).