Russia counterfeiting Western cars and parts; report

Russia’s automotive sector, crippled by sanctions in connection with the invasion of Ukraine, has turned over some of its production to the counterfeiting of well-known brand parts, according to a new report.

News wire bne IntelliNews reports that factories set up by big Western carmakers in Russia before the war have been taken over by Russian groups, with production restarted of the same brands and products that were being made before.

That is “ignoring the intellectual property ownership of the brands,” it notes, citing data from The Bell, one of the last remaining independent Russian news outlets.

The report notes for example that a Citroen facility in Kaluga is now owned by a company called Automobile Technologies LLC and is making Citroen C5 Aircross vehicles using Chinese components. Meanwhile, in other cases the same cars are being produced under different brands, sometimes in partnership with Chinese carmakers.