London (Parliament News) – Jaguar Land Rover will invest over £1m to help UK police combat car theft and gather intelligence. This investment aims to target theft hotspots and provide police with additional resources to respond effectively.
Jaguar Land Rover is intending to invest more than £1m to sustain UK police to fight car thefts and fund intelligence gathering. The luxury carmaker expressed the money would be used to target theft hotspots and equip police forces “with additional dedicated resources to respond to vehicle thefts across the country”.
The investment comes as the JLR chief executive, Adrian Mardell, called on ministers to boost spending on policing after the Range Rover maker was struck by a wave of thefts of its luxury vehicles.
How Will Jaguar Land Rover Combat UK Car Thefts?
JLR stated it would work directly with forces across the UK, who would decide how to spend the money based on intelligence, the Guardian comprehends. Insurance premiums for the company’s luxury vehicles have skyrocketed recently, prompting it to relaunch its insurance covering last October. Some insurers have refused to cover Range Rovers.
The Jaguar Land Rover UK managing director, Patrick McGillycuddy, stated: “We are constantly developing our systems and security features and through our close collaboration with police, we stay ahead of any emerging methods and quickly deploy anti-theft measures.
“This additional investment, coupled with our other ongoing and proactive action, shows our commitment to supporting the authorities in having a tangible impact on combating this issue in the UK.”
What Is JLR Doing to Address Car Theft Issues?
JLR stated it was already operating with police to share information, allowing to recovery of stolen vehicles and providing training for 650 officials, as well as working to make its vehicles less vulnerable. Of the 12,800 vehicles of the latest Range Rover sold since its takeoff in January 2022, only 11 were stolen during its first two years on the market.
However, some customers are noticing the cost of insuring their Range Rovers skyrocketing. Meryl Cabellos told BBC News that the price of insuring his car grew from £2,000 to £4,000 last year, before receiving a best quote of £10,000 this year.
“We’ve been Range Rover customers for many years, and it really feels as though we’re being priced out now,” Cabellos stated. “We’re just really disappointed. We loved the car but because of the insurance the experience of owning it went downhill so quickly.” According to Auto Trader data, the average expense of a used Range Rover has fallen 9.3% since May to £35,224, compared with drops of 5.7% for all luxury SUVs and 2.8% for all cars.
JLR, which is possessed by the Indian conglomerate Tata, says it is paying more than £15m to update 450,000 older vehicles with the latest security software and has installed it on 80,000 so far. It made earnings before tax and exceptional things of £627m in its third quarter, the three months to 31 December, up from £235m a year before. Sales rose to £7.4bn from £6bn, as wholesale earnings of its Range Rover – vehicles sold through dealerships – hit a quarterly record.