The recall is due to a faulty accelerator pedal arm, many of which have broken, although Aston Martin stresses that there have been no incidents or accidents. Tests by the luxury sports car maker have revealed the source of the problem: rather than being made from PA 6 supplied by DuPont, as the company had specified, the part was being made from counterfeit plastic.

Dr Brian Balmer, industry principal for performance materials at Frost & Sullivan, said: ‘This highlights one of the main challenges of dealing with a globalised automotive industry. Aston Martin, which assembles its vehicles in the UK but is now part-owned by Kuwaiti investors, appointed a company to supply these parts; that supplier is in Hong Kong. That supplier in turn appointed a moulder in mainland China to mould the part. That moulder bought the polymer from a local Chinese supplier that was supposedly PA 6 from DuPont.

‘The tests undertaken by Aston Martin showed that this material was not from DuPont as the packaging suggested; in fact it wasn't even PA 6, it was PA 6,6.

‘Understandably, Aston Martin has decided to bring the moulding of the part back to the UK as soon as possible.

‘The market for polyamides in the Chinese automotive industry is dominated by the main global manufacturers, although there is also a market for locally produced material. DuPont is in fact the market leader, with a market share of around 28 percent. Local Chinese manufacturers have a combined share of around 10 percent of the market.

‘The need to be able to supply the same grade of material to OEM's across all regions of the world is a critical success factor for polymer companies supplying the automotive industry, so any move in part production from China to the UK will be easily accommodated by DuPont.

‘Frost & Sullivan's latest research shows that the market for compounded polyamide engineering plastic in the Chinese automotive industry was worth more than $1 billion in 2013. In volume terms, China represents around 28% of global demand. This is slightly ahead of the share taken by China of global car manufacturing, suggesting that there is a market for export of Chinese-moulded parts to OEMs in other regions.

‘This issue of counterfeiting has affected major brands in other markets too, so it is up to those brands to remain vigilant, and to continue thinking of new ways to stay one step ahead to protect their brand image.’