Mercedes-Benz: "Blood on insurers hands"

Mercedes-Benz Australia has accused Australian car insurers of putting profit ahead of safety.

In a strongly worded comment to assembled auto media yesterday, company spokesperson David McCarthy accused insurers of "messing around with your life and everyone else's life... to boost their bottom line[s]".

"The overwhelming majority of them [Australian insurers] are fitting parts to cars that are counterfeit, that are deficient, and they are compromising the integrity of the safety [of the cars]. All they are interested in is repairing a car to look good. They are not repairing the car for the next accident. And, quite frankly, they have blood on their hands. It is a really simply message," McCarthy stated.

The broadside was delivered unprompted in a kick-off of what's expected to be a campaign from Mercedes-Benz Australia (MBAu) to bring attention to the use of cheaper counterfeit parts by local repairers.

MBAu says insurers are at least condoning the use of the untested 'fake' parts and in many cases are obliging car repairers to use them.

The company says parts like bonnets, front guards, head and tail lamps are all commonly faked. In the case of the panels, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts made in aluminium are commonly be replaced with heavier steel pieces which, the car maker says, have not been crash tested nor checked for pedestrian impact regulatory compliance.

Headlamps and tail lamps are often incompatible with embedded technology within the cars' CANBUS wiring system. Counterfeit headlamps fitted are often left-hand drive, MBAu claimed.

"We design a vehicle to be able, in primary and secondary safety, to protect the occupant and pedestrians. What is happening here is that the repair practices that are taking place and the repair parts that are being used are putting people's lives at risk.

"We will not engage in a race to the bottom on safety and [the fact is] the insurance companies in Australia are using non-genuine parts... They're using counterfeit parts, and they are fitting them to cars in a way that does not guarantee the safety of the occupant and it does not guarantee the safety of pedestrians.

"The insurance companies will tell you... they give a lifetime guarantee on repairs. Quite frankly, that is a crock of something that rhymes with bit," McCarthy told motoring.com.au.

Mercedes-Benz currently operates 17 authorised repair centres in six mainland states. The repairers are factory trained and use real-time online links to Mercedes in Germany to test the electronic integrity of repairs.

McCarthy conceded MBAu had a vested interest in these centres and in parts sales but said the company's concerns were shared with other marques.

"This is not just a Mercedes Benz issue... We want those vehicles, when they're crash repaired, to be repaired to the highest standard -- and it is not happening. And other manufacturers absolutely agree with us. Our German counterparts are of the same view, and I've spoken to a number of others [non-German brands], and, believe me, this is an issue that I'm not just fired up about personally."

He also levelled the MBAu corporate howitzer at the various levels of government which administer road safety.

"Professionally, and in terms of good public policy, it is a disgrace that governments in Australia are allowing this to happen. They talk and talk and talk about road safety and this is an area they are doing nothing in. Zero, zilch..."

"Yes, it is about protecting our [parts] business, but it is about protecting our customer... If you think about your life, if you think about your partner's life, if you think about your friend's live, if you think about a pedestrian... When you fit non-genuine parts in an environment that is not qualified, [when the installer] is not trained to fit those parts, you're playing Russian roulette and the insurance companies are loading the gun," McCarthy asserted.

motoring.com.au contacted a number of auto insurers to request comment on MBAu's statements. NSW-based auto insurer NRMA Insurance strongly supported the car maker.

"They've [MBAu] got it right," NRMA Insurance spokesperson Mark Gold told motoring.com.au.

"Our policy is to use genuine parts and, as much as we can, our assessors enforce this," Gold stated.

"There are some instances – such as in the case of older cars – where this can be challenging. And there are some exceptions such as windscreens and radiators, but we understand there is the potential to compromise the quality and safety of modern vehicles via the use of non-genuine parts," he stated.

Gold said he "couldn't speak for other insurers" but suggested that all of the companies within the IAG group applied the same or similar genuine parts policy as NRMA.