The Land Rover is the most stolen car in Britain, with one in every 100 of the flashy SUVs snatched by thieves last year.
Land Rovers are three times more likely to be stolen than a Mercedes-Benz, which came in as the second favourite for criminals, according to figures from confused.com.
Among the 896,948 licensed Land Rovers in the UK, 8,284 were reported as stolen in the year ending March 2023.
There is growing concern that the valuable 4X4s, which can cost over £100,000, are being targeted as latest figures from AA insurance show that car thefts have gone up by 25 per cent.
Last Wednesday, a Range Rover was stolen from a driveway in Gloucester within a matter of matter of a few minutes as thieves used technology to break into the keyless car.
Britain’s most stolen car brand has been revealed to be the Land Rover, with one in every 100 of the flashy SUVs to be snatched by thieves
The shocking CCTV footage showed two crooks approach the car several times before managing to get in and drive the car out in reverse in the speedy theft.
A police spokesperson said that it was likely that the tech-savvy thieves would have used a transmitter to boost the signal from the key that was inside the house in order to break into the car.
The car was eventually ditched after the criminals failed to disable the the tracker device fitted in the car, but not before colliding with another car and damaging the rear end.
Police are currently appealing for information to anyone who saw the vehicle being driven around the area, or may have CCTV footage of the theft on the 7 June.
Opportunist criminals have become smarter in the ways they break into vulnerable vehicles, some of which are keyless and can be hacked into.
The shocking CCTV footage showed two crooks approach the car sat in a driveway in Gloucester several times
The tech-savvy thieves would have likely used a transmitter to boost the signal from the key that was inside the house in order to break into the car
The shocking CCTV footage shows the pair of thieves drive the Range Rover out of the driveway in reverse in a theft that took minutes
Devices which can be bought for £1300 can allow car thieves to hack into a keyless cars and can be speeding off in your motor within 90s seconds, according to The Times.
Teeside has suffered a scourge of car thefts, where criminals have been targeting the high-value cars which have even been snatched straight out of the dealership.
A Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) spokesperson told TeesideLive: ‘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’.
Police have been advising Teeseide residents with expensive keyless cars to use Faraday bags which can block signals used by thieves to hack into the vehicle.
Car brand Mercedes-Benz is the second most popular for thieves with as many as 323 cars stolen per 100,000.
Ford came in at third place of the list of most targeted car bards, followed by BMW and then Audi.
Toyota, Fiat, Volkswagen, Vauxhall and Hyundai also made the list of car brands eyed by thieving crooks.
Colour was also found to be a factor in the way thieves target motors, with black cars being more likely to be stolen than any other colour, according to the same data.
The Master Locksmith Association said ‘keyless car theft happens when thieves are only within a few metres from your car keys to capture the signal’ and can take 20-30 seconds.
They added that thieves use a device which transmits the signal from a key to somebody else standing by the victim’s car.
This then fools the car into thinking the key is near it, allowing the doors to be opened and ignition to be started.
They urge motorists with keyless cars to keep keys well away from doors and windows, and suggest putting then in a Faraday bag to prevent thieves from amplifying the signal and capturing it.
They also suggest turning off a keyless fob’s wireless signal and using a steering wheel lock or car alarms to deter criminals.
A Land Rover Discovery was stolen from an address in Marchwood in October 2021 and made its way in convoy to an address in Ipley
