Mercedes-Benz ramped up its efforts to combat counterfeit auto parts, resulting in a 20% increase in raids conducted worldwide in 2023, which led to the seizure of 1.6 million fake parts in more than 740 raids across the globe. The counterfeit items included critical safety components such as brake parts, wheels and steering parts, which pose a severe risk to road safety.
"The counterfeiting industry generates enormous margins and has the structures of organized crime. It endangers road safety, takes no account of the environment and stands neither for fair wages nor for occupational safety," said Renata Jungo Brüngger, member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG for Integrity, Governance & Sustainability. "By taking action against these highly criminal structures consistently and with all legal means, we protect not only the reputation of our brand, but also our customers, other road users and ultimately all victims of the counterfeiting industry."
Rims after stress test: original, left, and counterfeit, right.
The raids are the culmination of extensive investigations by Mercedes-Benz's brand protection team, which monitors online marketplaces and conducts research to identify counterfeit operations. The company’s global Intellectual Property Enforcement Team assists authorities in verifying counterfeit parts quickly and efficiently. In 2023 alone, an average of more than two raids per day were conducted worldwide.
The surge in counterfeit parts distribution is driven in part by the increasing shift of counterfeiting networks to online platforms, where anonymity and decentralization make it easier to sell fake products on a large scale. To counter this, Mercedes-Benz has intensified its online monitoring and enforcement measures, resulting in the removal of more than 142,000 listings for counterfeit products in 2023.
Marco Löhrer, a spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz, said in an email to Autobody News that buying counterfeit parts "can happen to anybody. A layperson will hardly be able to visually distinguish many of the offers from genuine products."
Löhrer said Mercedes-Benz is "taking massive action against this," as a global brand protection team at the Mercedes-Benz Intellectual Property Competence Centre is working with customs and law enforcement authorities around the world to put a stop to counterfeiters.
"Among other measures, this includes online monitoring on trading platforms, as well as local market surveillance to identify counterfeiters and to take legal action against them," Löhrer said.
Reputable repair shops that want to ensure they are getting authentic Mercedes-Benz parts should keep in mind "a few simple criteria," Löhrer said, beginning with careful examination of online offers.
"Typical alarm signals for counterfeit products are a significantly low price, abnormalities in product quality or sales via dubious online sources," Löhrer said.
For commercial customers, like independent repairers, Mercedes-Benz offers an online ordering platform for all spare parts, provided by an authorized dealer.
