Why some cars sold in Canada are easier to steal than the same models in Britain

When Anuj Sethi’s Range Rover was stolen from his driveway in 2021, he said police told him it was one of six cars stolen on the same night in his Oakville, Ont., neighborhood.

He was shocked to learn that his car might have been harder for thieves to steal if he had bought it in Britain

This is not correct at all. Car manufacturers must have the same security features around the world, Sethi said.

CBCs Marketplace discussed a recent report (new window) by Equité Association, a non-profit insurance industry organization, of the 10 most stolen vehicles in Canada. Of those ten, six were made for roads in Canada and the United Kingdom.

When Marketplace compared features of cars sold in Britain with cars sold in Canada, and found that these six models in Britain had additional security features not offered on Canadian versions of the same car, which could make them more difficult to steal .

The 2024 UK models of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler, Land Rover Range Rover, Lexus RX, Honda CR-V and Honda Civic all have rollover sensors and intrusion sensors, which are not standard on Canadian versions of the same vehicles.

Another feature Marketplace learned on all UK versions except the Jeep Wrangler has double locking. This feature was not present on any of the Canadian models.

Despite a much smaller population than Britain, Canada currently has a significantly higher car theft rate, with 286.46 stolen cars per 100,000 residents, compared to just 155.96 per 100,000 residents in Britain, according to 2023 figures from Statistics Canada. (new window) and the UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (new window).

Car theft reached its peak in Britain in 1992 with 620,000 thefts, but in 2016 there were only 91,000, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

Bryan Gast, who leads car theft investigations for the Canadian insurance industry, believes the more than 85 percent drop in UK theft rates over that period can be partly attributed to carmakers having to comply with what he describes as some of the strictest safety standards in the world.

While car thefts have risen again in Britain, Gast says cars sold in Canada are still far too easy to steal, and car manufacturers need to do more to prevent the vehicle from being stolen in the first place.

If you can steal a vehicle in less than 30 seconds, there’s trouble.

Security ratings are forcing UK carmakers to do more

While tilt and intrusion sensors and the double locking function Marketplace found on those British models are unlikely on their own to prevent a car from being stolen, such layers of security could make a car safer and more challenging to steal, says Steve Launchbury, chief engineer for car security at Thatcham Research, an insurance industry funded center.

We are certainly making it more and more difficult, Launchbury said.

The organization, based in Thatcham, England, tests and rates cars for safety and security. Insurance premiums are often based on these scores.

The tests award points for security features including intrusion and tilt sensors, as well as double locking.

An intrusion sensor activates an alarm if someone tries to get into the car. A tilt sensor activates an alarm when the car or its tires are lifted; it is designed to protect against tow truck theft. Double locking ensures that the vehicle cannot be opened by breaking a window and operating the doors from the inside.

Launchbury believes that the rating system that Thatcham Research assigns to vehicles has put additional pressure on manufacturers to improve the safety features of their cars.

He doesn’t think it’s fair to Canadian consumers that these features are missing from their models.

You would of course expect the car to be as safe as possible, he said.

When Marketplace When asking manufacturers about the differences in safety features, Lexus and Jeep Land Rover acknowledged the difference in regulatory requirements.

Stellantis, the company that makes Jeep vehicles, said in an email vehicle security measures in the UK differ from those in the North American market due to regulations (from the European Union).

Lexus said in emails Marketplace those Canadian regulations produce a different set of challenges for manufacturers building vehicles for the North American market.

JLR, Land Rover’s parent company, sent an email response explaining that the specifications and features of its vehicles vary and are depending on model and market.

Canadian regulations are falling behind

The last time Canada saw a significant decline in car theft was in 2007, when the country’s anti-theft regulations were last fully updated.

When Marketplace asked federal Transportation Minister Anita Anand why it has taken so long to update anti-theft regulations in Canada. She acknowledged that it has been a while, but promised that change is coming.

Adjusting legislation takes time, but yes, we are on top of it. Anand said.

As for a timeline for when Canadians can expect new regulations to come into effect, Anand has committed to having something on the table by 2025. I work as quickly as possible, she said.

That long delay in updating Canadian regulations is partly responsible for Canada’s current auto theft crisis, says Elliott Silverstein, director of government relations for CAA Insurance. Technology has evolved and so have thieves, he says, but Canadian anti-theft standards have not.

Over the past decade, we’ve all moved to push-button start. We’ve all moved to different types of technology in our cars, and standards haven’t kept up with those changes. Silverstein said.

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Canada urged to follow Britain’s lead in making vehicles much harder to steal

As car thefts rise in Canada, police and experts are urging manufacturers to make vehicles safer, as a CBC Marketplace survey shows some of the most stolen models in Canada are becoming harder to steal in Britain, thanks the improved security measures there.

He acknowledges there is no one solution to solving Canada’s car theft crisis, but he says manufacturers have an important role to play and stricter regulations would put pressure on them to catch up.

If we had stronger technology in our cars to prevent the cars from being stolen, thieves probably wouldn’t be able to access them.

Personalization is the future of car security?

One thing Silverstein said regulators and automakers should consider moving forward is personalization, an automotive security feature similar to two-factor authentication on a phone or other electronic device.

We need to see some of those standards really become commonplace in society in our vehicles because that’s one more way to prevent the cars from being stolen. Silverstein said.

Personalization takes various forms, such as requiring a vehicle driver to enter a PIN code to start the engine. This is already used by some car manufacturers.

Thatcham Research, which updates its safety assessment every few years to keep up with changing trends, will be rating cars for a personalization feature in vehicles by the end of this year.

Launchbury says the feature would be an option consumers could enable.

If you feel like you live in a high crime area, this would be an important (safety) layer to introduce, Launchbury said.

Marketplace Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus and Honda asked whether Canadian consumers can expect personalization to be added as a feature. None of the manufacturers responded to this question.

Automakers are responding

In comments by email (new window) Unpleasant Marketplace‘s research, Honda Canada said they are continually reviewing and assessing vehicle technology Stay ahead of criminals who circumvent this technology.

In an email, Lexus said yes has adopted a layered approach to reduce the chance of our vehicles being stolen and that they update their security on a fast pace.

Stellantis, the maker of Jeep, said their vehicles meet or exceed all applicable federal safety and security standards, utilizing industry-leading vehicle security technology.

Landrover told Marketplace it has brought a number of security changes in recent years and that the updates have resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of thefts of our vehicles, although they didn’t specify where.

Anuj Sethi was not willing to wait for improvements in anti-theft rules; he just replaced his stolen Range Rover with a new car. His biggest consideration before buying it was that it is not in the top 10 most stolen vehicles in Canada.

When consumers make decisions based on certainty and security and not on what they need and what they can afford, there is a small problem: Sethi said.

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