Raids on Mercedes-Benz counterfeit parts increased by 20% in 2023, according to new data released by the OEM. 

About 1.6 million Mercedes-Benz counterfeit parts were seized last year and 142,000 offers of counterfeit products deleted on social media and online platforms, a release says. 

The company also reports there was an average of more than two raids carried out daily by trade supervisor and law enforcement authorities on counterfeit products for a total of 740 raids worldwide in 2023. 

Counterfeits can be a danger to all road users, the release says. It adds counterfeit paper air filters seized in May and June can cause serious accidents after installations. Other counterfeit parts seized include brake, wheel, body and steering parts. The release says all the parts were destroyed after seizure. 

“The counterfeiting industry generates enormous margins and has the structures of organized crime,” Renata Jungo Brüngger, Mercedes-Benz member of the Renata Jungo Brüngger, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG for Integrity, Governance & Sustainability, said in the release. “It endangers road safety, takes no account of the environment and stands neither for fair wages nor for occupational safety. There are no quality controls. 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. In close cooperation with the authorities, we were able to track down many counterfeit factories directly.” 

The release said counterfeiting networks are increasingly moving to online platforms and social media to distribute products on a large scale. This allows counterfeiters to use extensive anonymity, it says. 

Mercedes-Benz protects it brand by utilizing its Intellectual Property Enforcement Team to investigate counterfeit parts, it says.

“The brand protection strategy is based on three pillars: tracking down, attacking and preventing,” the release says. “Mercedes-Benz brand protectors regularly support custom authorities and service providers with training events and provide information material to raise awareness.” 

Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has urged used car buyers and owners to be aware of “cheap, substandard” replacement air bag inflators that can cause death or serious injury in a crash.

Three people have been killed and two people have suffered life-altering, disfiguring injuries in the past nine months due to the faulty aftermarket replacement air bag inflators, according to NHTSA.

In all five cases, the vehicles had previously been involved in a crash and their original equipment air bags were replaced with defective, substandard inflators; in most cases confirmed to have been manufactured overseas, NHTSA said.

Repairer Driven News previously reported on a lawsuit filed by the estate of a Florida mother of two who was killed under similar circumstances.

Destiny Byassee was killed in a June 12, 2023 collision driving her used 2020 Chevrolet Malibu when a counterfeit front driver-side air bag “detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin,” according to the suit.

NHTSA says consumers who own a used car or are considering purchasing one should look at the vehicle’s history and ensure the vehicle has genuine air bag inflators.

A2C2 previously said the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (INFORM) Consumers Act, effective last year, and the proposed Stopping Harmful Offers on Platforms by Screening Against Fakes in Ecommerce (SHOP SAFE) Act are “steps in the right direction to help curb the availability and sale of counterfeit air bags.”

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the goal of the INFORM Consumers Act is “to add more transparency to online transactions and to deter criminals from acquiring stolen, counterfeit, or unsafe items and selling them through those marketplaces.”

The law also ensures online marketplace users have a way to report suspicious conduct concerning high-volume third-party sellers, the FTC said.

The SHOP SAFE Act would “provide for contributory liability for certain electronic commerce platforms for use of a counterfeit mark by a third party on such platforms, and for other purposes,” according to the bill text. A version of the act has been introduced in Congress every year since 2020.

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Featured photo displays a car with fake brake pads having a significantly longer braking distance/BMW.