UK insurers require critical modifications for sale in country with higher levels of car theft than China
British authorities may have well-founded concerns about the cyber-spying threat from vehicles made in China, but it turns out the country’s manufacturers have security worries of their own.
Insurers have told Chinese carmakers they need certain critical modifications for vehicles on British streets: namely, tougher locking devices to make them harder to steal.
With an average of 11 reported vehicle thefts an hour in the UK, and car crime comparatively rare under Beijing’s strict authoritarian regime, industry sources said it had been a “swift learning curve”.
Additions to cars exported to the UK from China have ranged from the simply mechanical, such as lockable wheel nuts and an extra layer of steel around the car door locks, to software to detect and guard against unauthorised entry.
