Britain's most-stolen cars have been announced, as criminals develop new ways of targeting unsuspecting motorists. The latest figures detail how one in every one hundred Land Rovers were swiped between March 2022 and March 2023, with police slipping under in the war on road crime.
The data also revealed the models which are now most likely to be targeted by crooks, as well as the hardware they use to make off with motors. An average of 159 vehicles were recorded as stolen each and every day on average in the 12-month period, with a grand total of 58,082 cars, vans and motorbikes going missing in the time frame.
Thieves use new key fobs to steal the SUVs - which have a whopping theft rate of 924 thefts per 100,000. According to the figures from Confused.com, the Mercedes-Benz was the second most popular vehicle of choice for crooks to steal.
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The Mirror reports that Ford, BMW, and then Audi also made the hit list, with black being the most stolen coloured vehicle. The figures in terms of vehicle theft surged by 25 per cent last year, new analysis from AA Insurance found.
The Times also reports that car hackers are now using hardware that could override a car's security system completely. The high-tech devices, which are sold online for a price point of around £1,300 allow thieves a quick 90-second getaway.
A statement from Jaguar Land Rover said: "Protecting our clients from this level of organised crime is our priority. We have a team of dedicated experts working closely with police and partners - our proactive approach enables us to support criminal investigations; spot emerging trends earlier; and quickly determine and roll out measures that counter this criminality.
"One such solution includes UWB (ultra wide band) technology - JLR were the first manufacturer to integrate this into our vehicles to prevent ‘relay attacks’ (keyless). Our cars featuring this technology have been independently verified by the Which? and the ADAC.
"Our production vehicles are equipped with industry-leading security systems, and vehicles are fitted with Secure Tracker vehicle tracking systems - recently being rated by Thatcham Research as ‘superior’. We recommend clients use all available measures to protect their vehicle, including our ‘remote’ app to access a suite of security features such as vehicle lock reminders, and ‘guardian mode’ which monitors the vehicle, providing an alert if there is any unauthorised interaction."
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