Counterfeit Air Bag Racket Blows Up 288
Hugh Pickens writes "According to Joan Lowy of the Associated Press, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has alerted the auto repair industry that tens of thousands of car owners may be driving vehicles with counterfeit air bags, which fail to inflate properly or don't inflate at all. Although no deaths or injuries have been tied to the counterfeit bags, it's unclear whether police accident investigators would be able to identify a counterfeit bag from a genuine one. The counterfeit bags typically have been made to look like air bags from automakers, and usually include a manufacturer's logo, but government investigators believe many of the bags come from China. Auto dealerships that operate their own body shops are usually required by their franchise agreements to buy their parts, including air bags, directly from automakers and therefore are unlikely to have installed counterfeit bags. But only 37 percent of auto dealers have their own body shops, so many consumers whose vehicles have been damaged are referred by their insurance companies to auto body shops that aren't affiliated with an automaker. Safety officials will warn millions of Americans that the air bags in over 100 vehicle models could be dangerous counterfeits, telling them to have their cars and trucks inspected as soon as possible. Dai Zhensong, a Chinese citizen, had the counterfeit air bags manufactured by purchasing genuine auto air bags that were torn down and used to produce molds to manufacture the counterfeit bags. Trademark emblems were purchased through dealerships located in China and affixed to the counterfeit air bags, which were then advertised on the Guangzhou Auto Parts website and sold for approximately $50 to $70 each, far below the value of an authentic air bag. The NHTSA has made a list of automobiles available that may be at risk for having counterfeit air bags."
Won't be the last (Score:5, Informative)
I saw video comparing the counterfeit to the OE airbags. If the counterfeit bag even deployed, it was very delayed and rarely had enough pressure to actually prevent serious injury.
Re:Won't be the last (Score:5, Informative)
It's not just car parts. It's happening in the aircraft industry and else where. There's also the issue of refurbished parts being sold as new...
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=67ee8eb6-54ae-403c-bcd5-3c76b6f95506 [aero-news.net]
Re:I do not trust Chinese manufacturing, BUT .... (Score:5, Informative)
How so? This is a bait & switch situation. US company orders a $50 part from China. Someone in China decides to send a $20 part in its' place and pocket the other $30.
Re:Well, that explains it (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I do not trust Chinese manufacturing, BUT .... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Of *course* they came from China (Score:4, Informative)
...it's just a matter of time before a major ingredients scandal hits.
Waddya mean [cbsnews.com] 'before' [huffingtonpost.com]?
Re:China (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Of *course* they came from China (Score:4, Informative)
Speaking of which, watch out for packaged food in the supermarkets these days - a lot of it says 'Made in China' and it's just a matter of time before a major ingredients scandal hits.
Too late: Study: Most Honey Is Just Fake, Pollenless Goo [gothamist.com]
But I wouldn't blame the Chinese only. Our own Federal government is the one to blame. As long as the fake cheaper substitutes do not kill us, our own government won't intervene.
Vote with your feet people. Learn which stores carry fake honey. You never know what else they might be carrying that's fake. My local Safeway for instance still carries fake honey (even after the news came out), but my local Trader Joes' doesn't (it apparently never did).
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Imports come from everywhere (Score:5, Informative)
True, but doesn't most of the crap bought in the U.S. come from China?
Not even remotely [census.gov]. Year to date in 2012 the US has imported about $235 billion in goods from China (out of ~$1323 billion total imports) which accounts for a little under 18% of total imports. Not even under the most wild definition of "most" does most of the stuff we buy come from China.
Re:Of *course* they came from China (Score:5, Informative)
China is the most dangerous country in the world today. And the information about how horrible the Chinese, despite them getting MUCH worse given the economic situation, the information flow has been nearly shut down since 2007 timeframe. There were big 60 minutes type exposes in 2007 but since then the Police State has seen that information regarding our forced consumption of Chinese Walmart Plastic with Federal Reserve Notes remains in place.
China tires bad:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118278927863547228.html [wsj.com]
The organizing committee of Beijingâ(TM)s Olympic games has promised to investigate charges that official merchandise is being manufactured using child labor.
The PRC Chinese poison dog food:
http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20070523/chinese_protein_export_scandal-id-104033.html [themoneytimes.com]
The PRC Chinese poison toothpaste:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/us/02toothpaste.html?ex=1181620800&en=d26dab8b2bd85303&ei=5070 [nytimes.com]
The PRC Chinese poison Children's Toys:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070614/thomas_recall_070614/20070614?hub=CTVNewsAt11 [www.ctv.ca]
http://blogs.eastbayexpress.com/92510/2007/06/thomas_why_hath_thou_forsaken.php [eastbayexpress.com]
Chinese Seafood Detained for Safety
http://www.topix.com/forum/food/TFSGN6836LFM2QFV7 [topix.com]
Melamine put into milk formula, dog food, etc.
http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/got-melamine-53000-chinese-children-did-in-their-milk.html [treehugger.com]
- Cow milk so inundated with antibiotics you can not make Yogurt from it.
- Pigs force-fed waste water.
- Lard made from separating fats from sewage.
Made in China: tainted food, fake drugs and dodgy paint
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2118920,00.html [guardian.co.uk]
China Jails 2 Protestant Church Leaders
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/china-jails-two-protestant-leaders/58150/ [nysun.com]
The PRC Chinese government has murdered countless people:
"DEATH BY GOVERNMENT: GENOCIDE AND MASS MURDER"
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM [hawaii.edu]
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.TAB1.GIF [hawaii.edu]
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.FIG1.GIF [hawaii.edu]
Given modern industrial process and productivity, I don't even see how using Chinese slave labor saves that much in the face of having to crate up and ship the goods from china to consuming markets.
The bean counters saved maybe 10% at best making product, and now with the price of shipping goods going up due to petrol, they are probably paying more to have it made in China.
The only real reason it may never come back to the US is a host of states (NY, CA) and The Fedzilla / US government that have a long list of anti-business laws making a return to the US difficult.
You want Made in the USA? Tell state and federal congress to stop doing everything to drive up the cost of business compared to China and India (the only two competitors that matter); stop buying Chinese crap where possible.
Slave Labor rented at a PREMIUM with low quality results is still apparently cheaper than coming back her
Re:Imports come from everywhere (Score:3, Informative)
depends on how you define "most". if it is china vs. not-china (everyone else combined) then you are correct it is
not more that 1/2 of total imports (18% as you say) but if the question is "which country do we import most stuff"
than the answers is China - top of the list at 18% (then Canada @ ~14% and Mexico @ ~12%, Japan @ ~6%
and then drops off rapidly)
What, you think they contain propellant? (Score:5, Informative)
Actually making a counterfeit functional would cut into their profits.
I would be surprised if these things actually contained any energetic materials at all. Probably just a short-circuited connector to fool the idiot light circuit, and an empty housing, filled with sand or whatever for weight.
The Chinese were caught sending counterfeit circuit breakers over here a few years ago, with nothing inside but a switch. No overcurrent protection at all. They have no qualms at all about faking safety-critical devices to make a buck...
Re:What, you think they contain propellant? (Score:5, Informative)
People should be shot for such bullshit. That kind of thing kills people.
Re:Well, that explains it (Score:4, Informative)
I didn't actually see that anywhere in the article. It did say that some fired shards of plastic or failed to inflate fully during testing. They don't say how well they actually compare to other airbags which very well may experience the same kinds of problems in some tests.
Re:Imports come from everywhere (Score:4, Informative)
The share of Chinese imports gets substantially higher when you subtract oil from the total, at $400-500 billion per year.
Re:China (Score:2, Informative)
Nope. Working as a corporate raider for Bain Capital was sufficient.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/bain-capital-mitt-romney-outsourcing-china-global-tech [motherjones.com]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2012/07/12/how-mitt-romney-invested-millions-in-outsourcing/ [forbes.com]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/romneys-bain-capital-invested-in-companies-that-moved-jobs-overseas/2012/06/21/gJQAsD9ptV_story.html [washingtonpost.com]