Shameful secrets car makers tried to hide

With car thefts soaring by 56 per cent last year, forcing up insurance premiums for all, this paper today exposes manufacturers’ extraordinary efforts to suppress warnings about high-tech vehicles’ vulnerability. take Volkswagen. When Birmingham academics found a security flaw affecting its cars in 2013, the firm reacted immediately – by seeking a high Court injunction preventing them from alerting owners!

in granting the order, Mr Justice Birss observed: ‘Volkswagen now know what the problem is. they have a chance to do something about it.’ Yet three years later, the company was still selling vehicles reported to be open to attack.

indeed, VW appears to have shown the same contempt for customers as in the diesel emissions test-rigging scandal (for which it remains unpunished in the UK).

Meanwhile, other car makers stand accused of putting at least as much effort into keeping owners in the dark as they’ve devoted to solving a problem that affects the second biggest purchase of most of our lives.

As the crime figures show, thieves have long been aware of how easy it is to steal cars that rely on keyless technology – in some cases, as the Mail has revealed, using kit available on sites such as Amazon.

it is nothing less than shameful that car buyers, lulled by false assurances that modern vehicles are safer than ever, should be the last to know.