One in three traders of car parts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could be selling fake car parts with an estimated value of $200 million per year, according to some estimates. Fake car parts can result in death or serious injury for the people traveling in a car fitted with fake products, warned Pia Pacovsky of DaimlerChrysler Middle East and a member of the Automotive Manufacturers Brand Protection Coalition of the Middle East (ACME).
ACME, the first such brand protection group in the world, has pledged its support for the Autotec Automechanika Gulf exhibition, to be held from May 17 -20, 2003, at the Dubai World Trade Center, organized by EPOC Messe Frankfurt. The exhibition, which is held in 10 countries across the world will also showcase the products of leading automobile manufacturers and specialist dealers from countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
All the well known car manufacturers are represented in the Middle East. The region boasts of one of the highest per capita levels of car ownership in the world. The general split of vehicles on the roads is Japanese 48 percent, European 26 percent, USA 17 percent and others nine percent. Low fuel costs and high incomes contribute to the growth of the automotive aftermarket sector in the Middle East and the demand for quality after sales service and genuine spare parts.
In response to this criminal trade some of the most well-known vehicle manufacturers from Europe, Japan and the US (Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Landrover, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Toyota) set up ACME, which covers the Middle East and Levant.
The main objective of ACME is to raise awareness with consumers, traders and government about the safety issues involved in the use of fake car parts and the threat they pose to the public. ACME has approached government departments, in the UAE in a drive to raise awareness of the endemic problems concerning fake parts.
ACME conducts technical assistance seminars for officials in the UAE involved in the front line fight against fakes to enable them to tell the difference between the fake and the genuine. "Autotec Automechanika is a good forum for the automobile industry to raise awareness on the importance of genuine aftermarket parts and ACME participation in this show will send the right message across to both the trade and customers," said Michael El Nayal, Managing Partner EPOC Messe Frankfurt.
Automechanika will serve as a platform for manufacturers in the automotive aftermarket industry to showcase their innovations besides offering advice on brand protection and auto-repair to vehicle workshop dealers and customers. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
