JLR to offer British buyers the equivalent of $285 a month to help with insurance for new Range Rover models
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has announced that buyers of the latest Range Rover and Range Rover Sport will be offered up to £150 ($A285) per month towards insuring their luxury SUV for the first three years of ownership.
Prompting the seemingly generous move is the sharp rise in premiums covering the British brand’s flagship models, following a spate of thefts around the country.
According to JLR, the contributions will apply to vehicles registered from May 1, 2024, and September 30, 2024, which are covered under Land Rover’s own insurance division.
Unusually, as part of the deal the value of the insured car cannot exceed £150,000 ($A285,000), which means both the Range Rover SV and Range Rover Sport SV are not eligible for the contribution.
Both the Range Rover Evoque and Velar are also excluded.
Prompting the move is fresh data that suggests the Range Rover was the fifth most-stolen car in the UK last year, with more than 1631 of them stolen.
Those figures are, incredibly, 29 per cent lower than in 2022, thanks to Land Rover’s drive to retrofit upgraded security to previous-generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models.
Since it introduced the scheme, more than 150,000 cars (produced since 2018) have received the security update.
Further upgrades are already in the works for cars built from 2016 until 2017.
JLR CEO Adrian Mardell has hit back at insurance companies that will no longer cover its brand’s vehicles, saying that recent police data indicated just 0.08 per cent of all new Range Rovers had been stolen since launch two years ago – that is, just 11 cars out of 12,800 produced.
The statistics for the Range Rover Sport, meanwhile, suggests that 15 vehicles have been stolen over the same period.
Updated data from the Police National Computer shows that since January 2022 only 0.2 per cent of new Range Rover and new Range Rover Sport SUVs have been stolen, while only 0.3 per cent of new Defender models have been stolen since launch in 2020.
JLR managing director Patrick McGillycuddy said: “We’re working hard to support our clients every step of the way and are pleased to offer a further, bespoke insurance initiative.
“JLR has an ‘all-fronts’ strategy to tackle the negative impact organised criminality is having on clients, insurance premiums and the insurance industry itself.
“Our efforts and investments include a raft of initiatives with police forces, port authorities, international law enforcement agencies and, of course, UK insurers.”