The Automotive Components Manufacturers Association of India estimates that up to 20% of all vehicular accidents in India are caused by fake automotive parts.

In Nigeria, the Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association reckons that the scale of the problem is similar to or higher than India’s.

Around the world, a frightening number of deaths can be attributed to fake and sub-standard automotive components.

Yet, road safety activists rarely shine the spotlight on this problem with the same intensity that they do on other drivers of road accidents, such as alcohol.

A group of auto parts manufacturers and marketers have come together to help change the status quo by increasing their advocacy about the problem and jointly deploying solutions that can help buyers of auto parts in a number of African, and shortly Asian, countries easily, quickly, and at no cost, by instantly confirming if the auto-component they are buying is genuine and certified by local authorities as having passed the requisite quality checks.

The companies include Kotec, Chitec, and LZNF Corp.

Products that can be instantly validated using text messaging, a web tool, and a camera scanning app include motor cylinders and spark plugs.

The initiative is powered with various Goldkeys (www.Goldkeys.Net) technologies such as EarlySensor (www.earlysensor.com) developed and deployed by mPedigree, the multinational supply chain cloud and software pioneer (www.mPedigree.Net).