Toyota Australia has announced it has lodged court proceedings for trademark infringements against two independent retailers who sold counterfeit airbag components.

TOYOTA AUSTRALIA has announced that, “following a six-month investigation, Toyota Australia has today lodged Federal Court proceedings against two independent retailers that have been selling counterfeit airbag spiral cables and advertising them as genuine Toyota parts”.

The short statement said, “The legal action relates to ‘trademark infringement’ and ‘misleading and deceptive conduct’.

“We are concerned that customers have been misled into believing they have purchased a genuine Toyota part. 

“Internal testing found that the counterfeit airbag spiral cables are of inferior quality, which poses a number of potential risks to customers.

“All of our parts are subject to rigorous testing before they are sold to ensure they work correctly. Counterfeit parts do not undergo the same testing.

“It is our expectation that the independent retailers will contact the impacted customers to advise them that they have purchased counterfeit parts and replace the airbag spiral cable with a genuine Toyota part at no cost to the customer.

“We want to take this opportunity to reiterate to customers that the spiral cable would only have been replaced if their vehicle was involved in an accident and the airbag deployed. Customers are assured that the Toyota dealer network only uses genuine Toyota parts.”