Toyota lodges court proceedings

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

The legal action relates to "trademark infringement" and "misleading and deceptive conduct".

The company is 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 legitimate Toyota 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 Toyota's expectation that the independent retailers will contact the impacted customers to advise that they have purchased counterfeit parts and to replace the airbag spiral cable with a genuine Toyota part at no cost to the customer.

Toyota reiterates to customers that the spiral cable would only have been replaced if their vehicle was involved in an accident and the airbag deployed and assures customers that the Toyota dealer network only uses genuine Toyota parts.

Due to court proceedings, the company will not be making any further comment.