Elf plays down fears of fake products

The seizure by government authorities of large stocks of adulterated and substandard Elf-branded lubricants, after a factory raid in Samut Prakan, is tarnishing Elf’s reputation in Thailand, according to news reports. Sittipol 1919 Co., a distributor of car and motorcycle parts owned by the Leeissaranukul family, is the exclusive distributor of Elf lubricants. Total Oil Thailand Co. is the only representative authorized by France’s Total SA to run its lube oil business in Thailand. The raid has tarnished Elf’s brand reputation and confused its dealers and customers, said executives of both companies. “They’re not clear about the fake products and want the distributor to assure them the products they buy are authentic,” said Pipop Yingpattana, manager of Sittipol 1919’s Elf oil product group. Sumate Srimanotham, sales and marketing director of Total Oil Thailand, said the adulterated Elf products in white packaging that were confiscated were not even part of Total Oil’s product line-up, as the genuine Elf-branded motor oils come only in blue containers. (September 18, 2009)