Arabian Automobiles pledges to fight fake parts sales and enlarges its genuine - parts centers in UAE

Enlarged to nearly 10,000 square feet each, from the earlier 2000 sq. feet, these centers will house more than 10,000 genuine parts for both old and new Nissan models.

"In our constant fight against the sale of fake automobile parts, we decided to expand the Al Quasis and Khorffakan centers, so our customers could have increased availability, more convenient locations, and timely access to the genuine-parts they require," says Michel Ayat, CEO Arabian Automobiles.

Spare-parts is an 11 billion US Dollar industry in the middle east region of which 30% is commanded by the counterfeit market, approximately 3.3 billion US Dollar (newswire today, 2006). The number of counterfeit auto parts is continually growing in UAE as these products provide consumers and shady dealers with a cheaper alternative with respect to their original counterparts. Counterfeit parts do not adhere to the safety standards and are not made with the proper material. They lack quality, and can therefore lead to hazardous driving conditions. For example, some non-genuine fuel filters cannot filter out some impurities due to inferior paper materials, and may cause fuel leakage that leads to engine fire.

"We cannot put a price tag on safety, especially when that safety is compromised by fake parts," adds Ayat. "People are often attracted to fake parts because they view genuine parts as expensive and they translate fake parts into a 25-40% savings. In reality, that small amount of savings will cost them much more in the long run, and unfortunately sometimes might even cost them their lives."

Arabian Automobiles (AA) is one of the largest distributors of genuine parts in the GCC, with over 95% parts availability and a 3.5 months advance stock available at any point in time, meaning that customers can get the genuine parts they need in a shorter period of time, avoiding the need to settle for fake parts. AA also operates a 45000 square feet genuine-parts center in Dubai Investment Park, with nearly 40,000 spare-parts stored at a time.

"In a bid to promote safety and encourage customers towards using genuine parts, we offer consumers many options when it comes to buying genuine parts. For example, we offer incentives to customers for purchasing genuine parts, which includes a major discount" continues Ayat. "We also offer shorter lasting genuine parts at an even higher discounted price, but ensuring that the customer is informed and that safety standards are always met."

In addition to the above efforts, Arabian Automobiles has conducted a "Key Value Parts" campaign to educate the public and to highlight the importance of using genuine parts; and has also offered the local police all its support in combating fake automobile parts in the region.