Counterfeiters annually cost the auto industry $200 million in the Middle East and $1 billion globally, according to officials heading a worldwide initiative launched by ACDelco to combat the fake trade in the industry, the first of its kind anywhere.

Rod Ott and Tony Bol, managers of General Motors Global Security also determined that 50 to 60 per cent of many major product lines in Saudi Arabia were fake, said a statement from ACDelco which comes under the umbrella of the US auto maker.

The statement added that feedback indicated that figures in the rest of the Gulf were similar to the Saudi level.

ACDelco said its campaign against fakes was being carried out in tandem with Middle East governments and leading auto industry figures. It said many of the operations were long-term and that "major success" had been achieved.

Ott and Bol spent 18 months working in close co-operation with the Saudi government on the counterfeit issue. "Their painstaking inquiries have led to a number of high-profile raids on warehouses stacked with millions of dollars' worth of ultra-slick look-alikes," ACDelco said

According to Ott and Bol, who are now focusing more in the UAE and Kuwait to help their respective governments and auto industries, the Gulf states are considered prime targets for counterfeiters keen to infiltrate the top end of the auto market.

The two officials have also completed the laying of the groundwork for co-operation with the Chinese, South Korean and some Latin American governments, indicating the anti-counterfeit moves are gathering momentum.

"It's a worldwide problem. You might have fake parts from Asia re-exported to Africa via a Gulf state. The problem has to be addressed wherever you find it," said Ott. Bol said the similarity of the fakes was often "very close" to genuine ACDelco and the sheer size of the supply chain usually indicated organised crime involvement in some countries.

"We've seen extensive organised crime involvement in the US, for example, so it's paramount to head everything off before it gets to the Gulf," he added.

Brake parts are a major target area for the counterfeiters, the ACDelco statement said. It listed the most commonly produced counterfeit parts as maintenance and high-volume items such as oil and air filters, shock absorbers, fan belts, disc brake pads and shores, air conditioning compressors, starters, spark plugs and oxygen sensors.

Bol said counterfeiters had become very sophisticated so a visual inspection of the product might not be enough to distinguish genuine parts from fake.

"A competitive market drives variation in price among reputable manufacturers but extremely large differences in price should arouse suspicion," he said.

ACDelco's regional marketing manager David Mehelas said fakes reached the Gulf "via ocean freight through the port system." "Fake parts cast a shadow on ACDelco's reputation as a provider of high-quality replacement parts."