Elf faces down fake-oil fears

       The confiscation of large stocks of adulterated and substandard Elf lubricants after a factory raid in Samut Prakan last week has played havoc with distributors Sittipol 1919 Co and Total Oil Thailand Co.
       Both companies have moved quickly to defend Elf oils in light of fears about adulteration.
       Sittipol 1919, a distributor of car and motorcycle parts owned by the Leeissaranukul family, is the exclusive distributor of Elf lubricating oils. Total Oil Thailand is the only representative authorised by France's Total Group to run its lube oil business in Thailand.
       Marketing lubricating oils for motor vehicles is the responsibility of Total Oil Thailand.
       The seizure of adulterated lubricant damaged Elf's brand reputation and confused its dealers and customers, said executives of both companies.
       Elf dealers have called on Sittipol 1919 and Total Oil Thailand to address the issue to prevent customers fearing that Elf motor oils could damage their motorcycles.
       "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, the director of Total Oil Thailand's sales and marketing, insists the adulterated Elf products in white packaging were not in Total Oil's product lineup.
       Genuine Elf products come in blue containers, which are the standard packaging worldwide, said Mr Pipop. Their labels also say that the oil has been produced by Total Oil Thailand and distributed by Sittipol 1919.
       Sittipol 1919 acquired the distributorship of Elf motorcycle lubricating oils in 2007 in Thailand - where fourstroke and automatic-transmission motorcycles are becoming increasingly more common.
       RAC Trading Co had previously distributed Elf products for two-stroke bikes, which have been almost com-pletely phased out from the market.
       Four grades of Elf products are currently available in the Thai market three for four-stroke bikes and one for two-stroke bikes.
       Two-stroke lubricating oil is kept on the market because traditional twostroke motorcyles are still in wide use in rural areas, said Mr Pipop.
       Elf two-stroke oil currently has a 15% share of its market - although Elf expects to hold only 2% of the 80-million-baht market for lubricating oil for both motorcycle types by the year-end.
       Sittipol 1919's sales of Elf products are satisfactory given the short period the company has had to promote the products and the slump in the motorcycle market, said Mr Sumate.