Vehicle manufacturers' security success

Vehicle manufacturers celebrated nearly a decade of achievement in vehicle security, as the winners of the ninth British Insurance Vehicle Security Awards (BIVSA) were announced .

In the presence of Jeremy Browne, Minister of State for Crime Prevention, Volkswagen UK was presented with the overall best car manufacturer award for the third year running with the Beetle, Phaeton and Sharan among its category winners, while Nissan scooped the LCV equivalent with the Nissan Primastar winning outright in the heavy van category.

Supported by the UK Government, The Department for Transport and other key stakeholders, the BIVSA represent an opportunity for manufacturers to demonstrate to their customers the efforts they are making in minimising the disruption and anxiety caused by becoming a victim of crime.

In the nine years of the BIVSA awards Thatcham has presented more than 150 awards to nearly 20 different manufacturers while vehicle crime has fallen by approximately one third in that period.

For this year's awards, according to Thatcham's vehicle security team, the best continue to get better: "We work closely with the police to establish the current techniques that thieves are using and the British insurance industry's vehicle security criteria against which vehicles are assessed is continually updated to reflect this knowledge," said Peter Shaw, chief executive at Thatcham.

In this way we have continued to raise the bar for manufacturers and they in turn have responded with ever more secure vehicles,"

Additional security features that manufacturers have introduced over the period covered by BIVSA include the standardisation of double locking, improvements to vehicle identification and anti-counterfeiting measures, drive-away locking, lockable fuel filler caps, the use of laminated glazing on high end models, improvements to alarm systems and immobilisers and the introduction of keyless entry and keyless start vehicles.

However among the celebrations, Thatcham concedes that the fight against vehicle crime is not yet won and recent security issues serve as a reminder that whilst these awards in their current format are coming to an end the fight against the thieves is not.

Shaw added: "In late 2011 we identified a new theft trend involving criminals using sophisticated technology to access a vehicle's on-board diagnostics port and extract the information required to programme a new key. This new issue demonstrates that despite the achievements of manufacturers, while thieves continue to look for new ways to steal vehicles there will be no room for complacency in the fight against vehicle crime."

Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT, said: "These awards demonstrate the commitment vehicle manufacturers have to ensuring customers' cars and vans remain protected.

"The industry strives to stay one step ahead of criminals and only by working closely with the Police, insurers and the experts at Thatcham, can we maintain the downward trend in vehicle related crime.

"The unregulated purchase and use of equipment that should only be available to specialist technicians is an increasing concern and we should collectively explore how we can minimise its impact on the safety and security of the motoring public."

While this will be the last Security Awards in its current format, Thatcham and their insurer stakeholders announced their intention to extend the coverage of these awards to recognise achievements in safety as well as security and as such, in 2013 the awards will become the British Insurance Vehicle Safety and Security Awards (BIVSSA).

Winners and Runners-up (Cars)

City Car / Supermini
1st Audi A1
2nd Volkswagen Polo SEL,GTI and R-Line
3rd Seat Ibiza (except E)

Small Family Car
1st Volkswagen Beetle (2012 MY)
2nd Volvo C30
3rd Audi A3

Family Car
1st Citroen C5 Exclusive
2nd Volkswagen Passat - Passat CC
3rd Vauxhall Insignia

Compact Executive Car
1st Audi A4
2nd Audi A5 Sportback
3rd Infiniti G Series
4th Volvo S60/V60

Compact MPV
1st Citroen C4 Picasso Exclusive
2nd Volkswagen Golf Plus (except S)
3rd Volkswagen Touran
4th Volkswagen Caddy Maxi

Large MPV
1st Volkswagen Sharan
2nd Seat Alhambra
3rd Volkswagen Caravelle
4th Chevrolet Orlando

Open-top Car
1st Audi A5 Cabriolet
2nd Audi R8 Spyder
3rd Porsche Boxster (MY2012)
4th Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet (MY2012)

Performance Car (including coupe, hot hatch and super)
1st Audi A8 W12 Quattro
2nd Mercedes-Benz CL Coupe
3rd Audi A5 Coupe
4th Audi S4
5th Audi R8 Coupe

Crossover
1st Audi Q3
2nd Volkswagen Tiguan
3rd Mini Countryman

Compact 4x4
1st Audi Q5
2nd Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
3rd BMW X3
4th Infiniti EX

Large 4x4
1st Toyota Land Cruiser V8
2nd Audi Q7
3rd Porsche Cayenne

Executive Car
1st  Citroen C6
2nd Audi A6 - A7
3rd Infiniti M Series
4th Volvo S80
5th  Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class (2012 MY)

Luxury Car
1st Volkswagen Phaeton
2nd Audi A8
3rd Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Green Car
1st Vauxhall Ampera
2nd  Toyota Prius T3 and T Spirit with Solar Panel
3rd Seat Ibiza 1.2 CR TDI 75PS Stop-Start Ecomotive
4th Toyota Prius T4 and T Spirit
5th Lexus CT CT200h

International Vehicle Security Award
Volvo Cars

Manufacturer
1st Volkswagen UK
2nd Audi UK
3rd Volvo Cars UK Ltd
4th Mazda Motors UK Ltd

Winners and Runners-up (Vans)

Light Van
1st Volkswagen Caddy
2nd Peugeot 207 Van
3rd Peugeot Partner
4th Citroen Berlingo
5th Nissan NV200

Heavy Van
1st Nissan Primastar
2nd Renault Trafic (Sport)
3rd Ford Transit (Sport)(2012 MY)
4th Vauxhall Vivaro (Sportive)

Pick-up (including light tipper)
1st Volkswagen Amarok
2nd Ford Ranger (2012 MY)
3rd Mitsubishi L200 (except 4work and 4life)
4th Nissan Cabstar

4x4 Van
1st Land Rover Discovery 4
2nd Nissan Pathfinder
3rd Mitsubishi Outlander
4th Mitsubishi ASX

Green Van
1st Ford Fiesta Panel Van-1.6 Duratorq TDCi + DPF (ECOnetic)
2nd Vauxhall Corsavan 1.3CDTi 16v (95ps) ecoFLEX Start/Stop
3rd Ford Fiesta Panel Van-1.4 Duratorq TDCi

Manufacturer
1st Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd
2nd Vauxhall Motors UK
3rd Peugeot Motor Company PLC