Jaguar Land Rover CEO hits back over Range Rover theft issues

Jaguar Land Rover CEO Adrian Mardell has addressed concerns around the high theft rates of Range Rovers, after an investment of £10m from the company to tackle the issue. 

Speaking to Auto Express, Mardell said “the Range Rover is not Britain’s most stolen vehicle. There are no JLR models in the top three [most stolen cars] in the calendar year 2023. The figures for 2023 show a 27.2 per cent decline in Range Rover theft year on year.”

Mardell accepted that “we need to keep improving” in terms of decreasing car thefts. He went on to say that thefts of the Range Rover Sport were down 28.6 per cent and that for the ‘new’ Land Rover Defender, only 134 cars have been stolen out of 45,200 on the road - at a rate of 0.3 per cent - since its launch in 2019.

In regard to connected  issues with insurance for Land Rover products, Mardell added: “There is no reason why any insurance company shouldn’t readily insure those vehicles. The insurance industry is clearly not using the data. They are very slow to respond to data, that’s the reality. We know how upsetting this is. We’ve had employees, I’ve had friends where vehicles have been stolen.”

JLR measures to combat thefts

Jaguar Land Rover launched a new safety system to prevent criminals ‘hacking’ into its cars back in late 2023. The system is designed to counter keyless entry attacks to a car's 'Body Control Module' (BCM) to unlock the car and drive away without the key. 

The new technology was developed in conjunction with Thatcham Research and focuses on the ‘Body Control Module’, stopping keyless attacks. Even with the new safety upgrades, JLR maintains owners should use the firm’s ‘Remote’ apps which allow customers to access security features like lock reminders and ‘Guardian Mode’ - which will monitor the vehicle and alert if there’s suspicious activity around it.

It’s not only new Range Rovers that can benefit from the latest security technology. It can also be fitted to previous generation vehicles (including those out of warranty). JLR points out that any Range Rover, Defender, Discovery and Jaguar customers who have been contacted about available security updates should have them fitted by their local dealership. 

New security updates designed to tackle keyless car crime have been rolled out on vehicles built from 2018, cutting Range Rover and Range Rover Sport thefts by over 40 per cent, according to JLR. Since Jaguar Land Rover introduced an update to its ultra wide-band technology in 2018, none of its cars have been stolen via the relay attacks method. 

Patrick McGillycuddy, Managing Director, JLR UK, spoke on the new security measures: “While vehicle theft in the UK is affecting the whole car industry, at JLR we understand the  negative impact this can have on the ownership experience for our clients. Our investment of  more than £10 million demonstrates our ongoing commitment to tackling this issue.”

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