Ford Puma and Kuga now with ANTI-THEFT motion sensing key fob – but why has it taken so long?

Ford reveals it is now delivering the Puma and Kuga SUVs with sleep mode key fobs to help reduce the number of relay car thefts.

Three years ago we asked why car makers don’t use keyless fobs with sleep modes to stop car thieves using relay grabbers to acquire a signal and steal cars when car thefts by relay are going through the roof. A relatively simple solution to a huge, and expensive, problem

But changes to the New Vehicle Security Assessment (NVSA) programme for 2019 – which assesses cars for insurance ratings – seems to have convinced car makers sleep mode fobs are the way to go, although the rollout is not as quick as it should be.

Ford announced two years ago that the Fiesta and Focus were getting motion sensing key fobs which go to sleep after 40 seconds of no movement, although they wanted around £70 and nearly an hour’s labour to change your non-sleep mode fob for a new one, and the new electric Mach-E has come with the sleepy fobs from launch.

But it’s taken until now for Ford to announce that the Puma and Kuga now come with the sleep fobs, despite the introduction on the Fiesta cutting thefts by two-thirds. How many Kuga and Puma owners would have been saved from the pain and cost of car theft if the sleepy fobs had been rolled out across the Ford range two years ago?

Simon Hurr, Ford security specialist, said: 

The online availability of devices, which have no place in public hands, has long been a problem for Ford, our industry and crime fighters.  We are pleased to extend our simple but effective solution, to help protect more owners of our most popular cars.

Which is almost exactly what he said two years ago when the Fiesta and Focus got the sleepy fobs.