Nissan Middle East's initiative to stop the sale and distribution of fake spare parts in the region is being supported by Al-Masaood Automobiles, Nissan's sole distributor in Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain, and the western region.
The campaign includes extensive training and workshops for everyone within the ecosystem to identify the extremely subtle differences between genuine and counterfeit parts, particularly brake pads, spark plugs, and oil filters. It also involves significant government and private sector stakeholders, including Abu Dhabi Customs.
“Counterfeit products pose an inherent threat to customers,” said Harmeet Singh, Al-Masaood Automobile’s after-sales director. “As these products do not go through the stringent quality control processes at Nissan, their usage may be detrimental to the vehicles, and in some cases, counterfeit spare parts may lead to situations where the drivers of the cars and their passengers may be injured or worse. Therefore, it is imperative that we invest our efforts to prevent these products from making it to the market at all.”
Al-Masaood Automobiles has been conducting training sessions with Abu Dhabi Customs officials as part of this endeavour to teach them how to distinguish between legitimate Nissan spare parts and illegal, counterfeit parts.
The programme also saw the creation of a contract with Abu Dhabi Customs, under which the agency would alert Al-Masaood Automobiles to any shipments of Nissan spare parts that were about to enter the emirate by sea. This would allow the company to determine in advance whether the shipment is a genuine shipment of Nissan spare parts or a parallel, "grey-market" import. In Al-Ain, similar training is scheduled for customs officers.