DETROIT — General Motors Service Parts Operations (GMSPO), Ford Motor Company's Automotive Consumer Services Group and the Mopar Parts Division of DaimlerChrysler Corporation are leading the creation of a Global Industry Network to protect against counterfeit activity. The three automakers are cooperating in efforts to share their learnings on tracking down and seeking prosecution of counterfeiting perpetrators.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the impact of counterfeit activity has resulted in:
- Lost sales of $12 billion worldwide for the automotive industry;
- 210,000 lost automotive related jobs;
- Compromised customer safety;
- Loss of brand reputation and consumer confidence, and
- Loss of opportunity for automakers to grow their respective businesses.
"We are speaking with one voice on this issue," said John F. Smith, a GM vice president and general manager of GM SPO. "We have identified areas of common concern that threaten fair competition, product integrity and safety, our employees' job security and our bottom lines. The counterfeiters — or the 'unseen' competitors, as we call them — are well organized, well funded and often know our markets as well as we do. While they are criminals in their own right, they are often linked to broad-based criminal organizations around the world.