Genuine vs Spurious

Automotive Ancillaries join hands to Spread Awareness of Importance of Genuine vs Spurious Parts:

Automotive ancillaries took an initiative of creating awareness about the importance of using genuine vs spurious parts among the vehicle owners at the recently concluded Automotive Ancillaries Show 2014 in Pune organized by ACMA (Automobile Component Manufacturers Association). The value of India’s after-market for spare parts runs in crores of rupees. However, the spurious/non-genuine parts still make upto almost 30 to 40% of the total parts supplied in the market. Besides, these parts are priced about 30-40% cheaper than genuine parts and often without any guarantee whereas most genuine parts purchased and fitted at authorized outlets provide upto 6 months warranty against manufacturing defect.

Which are Genuine vs Spurious parts:

Almost all the after-market parts are identified by their packaging. The spurious parts also display logos, trademarks, packaging and, at times, even holograms of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), claiming to be the genuine/OEM part of the vehicle manufacturer. These parts also advertise themselves such as “Made for ….. (Brand Name)”. However, they may not necessarily be the genuine/original after-market part manufactured by the company.

These parts include many items such as the following:

• Auto Electrical parts
• Batteries
• Belts
• Brake System parts
• Charging Coil
• Clutch plates and Cover assemblies
• Diesel System parts
• Oil / Fuel Filters
• Gasoline System parts
• Glow Plugs
• Horns
• Ignition Coils
• Lighting systems, bulbs
• Lighting Coils and Stators
• Relays
• Spark Plugs

So, these parts often lack rigorous testing and routine quality checks and are pushed into the after-market under the guise of genuine spares. The automotive ancillaries are developing different ways to curb the spread of spurious parts since they pose a serious threat to vehicle’s safety. This includes the use of sophisticated paper-board packaging material with advanced security features such as printable holograms. Bosch India had put on display the correct identification of genuine v/s spurious parts at their stall in the Automotive Ancillaries Show 2014. In addition, the non-genuine oil and fuel filters can cause damage to the engine and the fuel system due to inadequate and ineffective filtration.

How to identify Genuine vs Spurious parts:

Furthermore, Bosch India has introduced an advance paper-board packaging material with printed holograms to pack its diesel filters. This latest technology is adapted by Bosch to prevent duplicating of the packaging material itself. If you look at the packaging box at an angle or just tilt the box in the light, you can see the hologram is embedded onto the packaging box itself rather than the pasting the hologram sticker as was being done earlier.

Moreover, the non-genuine brake parts also cannot meet the quality and safety standards of OEM parts. Thus, spurious brake parts can cause overheating and lead to a complete brake-failure or loss of braking ability of the vehicle. Similarly, in the wake of improving customer awareness, Brakes India had also put up the display of the identification of genuine v/s spurious parts. Additionally, the company has introduced stamping of codes in the form of a number on the metal body of their brake pads. In the near future, the company intends to provide genuineness of their parts by storing the batch/manufacturing codes of all the parts they manufacture into an automated system. So, a customer can send the batch code by SMS to the company and it will inform the customer by a return SMS whether it is a genuine part.

Advantages of using Genuine vs Spurious parts:

Further information about ACMA can be obtained at http://www.acma.in/wsdindex.html