Motorists warned over counterfeit car parts

In a dramatic video Hyundai shows two videos side-by-side with the first demonstrating a Hyundai supplied replacement airbag discharging and safely stopping a crash test dummy from smashing into the steering wheel during a simulated accident and a counterfeit airbag discharging, the deflated bag wrapping itself around the dummy’s head instead of inflating as the dummy smashes into the steering wheel.

Hyundai’s campaign is designed to take on counterfeit parts that are sometimes used to repair a vehicle.

Using counterfeit parts may save money up front but could cost them severely down the road. It could void a car’s warranty, as well as hurt a car’s residual value when an owner goes to sell it.

This problem is not just Hyundai’s. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission estimates that counterfeit parts cost carmakers $12 billion across the globe annually and $3 billion in the U.S.

Meanwhile in the UK hundreds of UK motorists are being asked to contact their dealer after news of counterfeit airbags sold on the internet emerged.

According to the City of London Police, the faulty Honda airbags have been on sale since September 2013 for approximately £170 – roughly half the cost of a genuine airbag. In 2013, similar news in the US forced thousands of motorists to have their vehicle checked. 

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