Phony parts cost Ford $1B

Counterfeit auto parts cost Ford Motor Co. a staggering $1 billion annually, which has spurred the Dearborn automaker to mount an aggressive campaign worldwide to attack the problem. The auto parts industry estimates counterfeit parts have become a $12 billion problem worldwide, with $3 billion in phony auto parts sold in the United States alone.

Ford's disclosure of the extent of its counterfeiting problems — part of a U.S. Chamber of Commerce study that will be released Wednesday — is the first by an automaker to give a specific figure on losses due to counterfeit and pirated parts.

"That figure is probably light," Joe Wiegand, Ford's global brand protection manager, said in an interview Friday.

The chamber is officially releasing the 23-page study Wednesday and distributing it to more than 1 million businesses to help them crack down on counterfeit parts.

"Many businesses, particularly small and medium-sized companies, do not fully appreciate the bottom-line cost of lax supply chain security," according to the report. "The growing problem of counterfeiting and piracy threatens businesses and consumers in nearly every region of the world." More at Detroit News