Motul Asia Pacific has rolled out an enhanced Track & Trace system across the region, adding a refreshed authentication label for product authentication that carries a unique QR code, proprietary encryption and laser holographic elements. Consumers scan the code with a smartphone to reach a verification platform that confirms whether the product is genuine and returns additional product information; a holographic feature shifts appearance with the viewing angle, adding a visual layer that is harder to copy. The system also lets consumers report products that raise authenticity concerns through the same portal.
The company frames the move as a response to structural change in how lubricants reach buyers. “Motul’s transition from its existing framework to this newly modernised T&T system marks a proactive leap ahead of the macro challenges reshaping the global lubricants sector,” the release states, pointing to e-commerce growth and unverified third-party marketplaces as sources of distribution complexity. Carlo Savoca, Motul’s chief marketing officer for Asia Pacific, put the brand’s interest plainly: the company’s responsibility, he said, does not end at manufacturing.
The counterfeiting problem
That framing rests on a documented problem. Industry research prepared for the Asian Lubricants Industry Association estimates that counterfeits account for roughly 10% of global lubricant sales, with passenger-car, heavy-duty and motorcycle oils among the most-targeted categories; some industry estimates put the share above 20%. Penetration is highest in China, followed by Malaysia and Myanmar, and the shift to online retail has widened the channel for fakes — counterfeiters followed buyers onto e-commerce platforms.
The consequences are not only commercial. Counterfeit lubricants often contain low-grade or used oil and lack the additives that protect an engine, so they can cause excessive wear, overheating and premature failure — a safety issue as much as a brand issue. Enforcement is uneven across the region: Malaysian authorities seized about RM1 million worth of fake oils in Selangor in November 2025, arresting 42 suspects, and South African officials confiscated more than 20,000 litres in January 2026.
The market is big enough to keep attracting counterfeiters. Asia-Pacific accounts for roughly 44% of global lubricant demand, and the region’s automotive engine-oils market runs to about 6.29 billion litres in 2026.
Why packaging is the front line
Motul’s product authentication approach is a common one, applied at scale. OEMs now embed QR authentication on caps, and brands including TotalEnergies have deployed printed security features tied to digital verification platforms. Motul itself is not new to this: it introduced Track & Trace technology in Asia earlier, including a rollout in Indonesia, and has used secure QR codes in the region. Its authentication vendor, Scantrust, has published a case study claiming that the deployment reduced counterfeits and grey-market activity — a claim that comes from the vendor rather than an independent audit.
There is a regulatory tailwind, too. The EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation introduces Digital Product Passports, with lubricants among the first affected industries, making scannable, data-rich packaging a compliance direction as well as an anti-counterfeiting one. For a brand selling across markets, a single product authentication QR code that resolves to region-appropriate information is a practical fit.
What to watch
Three things will show whether the rollout matters. First, whether Motul publishes counterfeit-reduction or scan-volume data, which would let the system be judged rather than described. Second, whether the coverage gap closes: independent coverage notes that the system does not cover the OEM, co-branded, Chemical, Additive, Care and Essential ranges, which leaves part of the portfolio outside it. Third, whether packaging-level authentication holds up as counterfeiters improve their own labels, since the approach raises the cost of faking a bottle without eliminating it.
What the announcement does and doesn’t establish
It establishes an enhanced product authentication label with a QR code, encryption and holographic features, a consumer-facing verification and reporting portal, and a regional rollout. It does not establish any measured reduction in counterfeits, any consumer-adoption figure, the cost of the system, or coverage of the full product range.
The honest summary is that this is a product authentication rollout built on established technology, and its significance lies in the problem rather than the mechanism. Counterfeit lubricants are a persistent, safety-relevant problem in a market where Asia-Pacific accounts for nearly half of global demand, and smartphone-verifiable packaging has become a standard response — one that regulators are also beginning to require through Digital Product Passports. Motul’s system is a sensible application of that approach. Whether it works is a question the announcement leaves open, because it offers no evidence of effectiveness, and its own vendor’s case study is the closest thing to proof.
Editor’s Note: This article draws on the Motul Asia Pacific release, Motul’s published materials, ALIA/Kline research on counterfeit lubricants, independent market research, and trade coverage. The system’s features are as described by the company; the effectiveness claim referenced is from the authentication vendor’s own case study and is not independently verified. Coverage exclusions are as reported in independent coverage.