Yokohama “eliminates” fake wheels in China

The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. says it has eliminated “counterfeit versions of the company’s aluminum wheels in China”. Yokohama Rubber filed an administrative complaint and submitted information to the Administration for Market Regulation in Foshan, Guangdong Province, regarding five companies engaged in the distribution of counterfeit sports car aluminium wheels imitating Yokohama’s “ADVAN Racing” wheels. The distributors were selling the counterfeit wheels via internet shopping sites and retail shops outside of the company’s official distribution channels.

Acting on the complaint and information provided by the company, the Foshan authorities simultaneously raided the five companies and seized the counterfeit aluminium wheels on 11 January 2023. Yokohama Rubber has confirmed that all five distributors have been fined and the counterfeit aluminium wheels have been destroyed.

In 2021, Yokohama Rubber filed a petition for the administrative complaint against distributors of counterfeit versions of the company’s aluminium wheels in China and “succeeded in eliminating the counterfeit products”.

But that’s not the end of it. “Yokohama Rubber remains resolute in its stance against the infringement of intellectual property rights, including the sale of counterfeit goods”, say company representatives, adding that the company “will strengthen its efforts against such illegal activities in Japan and overseas to ensure that its customers around the world are confident and secure in the knowledge that they are using genuine Yokohama products.”