This is the electrical portion that starts the engine, not the lock cylinder. A rod extends through linkage from the ignition lock cylinder to actuate the electrical ignition switch. The reason for confusion, is that the driver does not see this switch. It is tucked up under the dash in this column. The driver in turn relates to the key or lock cylinder being the method that actually starts the engine.
All vehicles have a separate electrical ignition switch.
They are actuated different ways from the lock cylinder by design. They are positioned in different places on different makes and models but still have the same function. When thinking of auto theft, because of the movies, the cylinder where the key goes in, is often confused with the actual starting of the engine. Even when movies showed of the lock cylinder being ripped out with a dent puller, there was no longer the cylinder in the column and yet the engine could be made to start. It is because the lock cylinder merely served as an actuator for the electrical ignition switch.