Car theft: which models are at greatest risk

Car theft is a real threat to vehicle owners across Europe. The experts identified which models are most at risk and noted which new methods are being used by the hijackers.

Car theft continues despite a significant reduction in traffic-related crime in the past two years and despite ambitious but not very effective efforts by car manufacturers to protect their offspring.

The first alarming numbers come from the UK, where car thefts have increased since the lockdown was introduced. In 2020, 74,769 car thefts were committed there, which corresponds to 205 thefts per day. In 2021, according to experts, the number of vehicles that will become victims of theft will exceed 80 thousand.

Considering that 72% of stolen vehicles in the UK are never returned to their owners, almost 60,000 cars this year will “disappear” from the face of the earth once and for all (mostly dismantled and sold for parts).

Among the cars preferred by car thieves in the UK, the first is the Ford Fiesta, which has been the sales leader in the country for more than 10 years. In second place is the Range Rover, and in third is the Volkswagen Golf. The five leaders are closed by Ford Focus and BMW of the third series, and the top ten also includes Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, as well as Opel Astra and Nissan Qashqai.

Thus, the first conclusion that follows from the above data is that the cars for which there is a greater demand and level of sales are at risk, since there are most of them on the roads, and therefore they require spare parts.

Italy has the highest rate of car thefts, with an average of 274 cases per day recorded last year (11 thefts per hour!). As in the case of Great Britain, in Italy the first word remains with the Fiat brand, which occupies the first five places in the top ten. In particular, Fiat Panda is in the first place, Fiat Punto is in second, and Fiat 500 is in third. Lancia Ypsilon and Volskwagen Golf close the five leaders, followed by smart fortwo.

The Volkswagen brand is preferred by car thieves in the Netherlands, with Golf and Polo at the top two in both 2019 and 2020. Volkswagen also has the highest number of car thefts in Germany, where there are far fewer incidents than in the UK and Italy.

As for Greece, the country ranks one of the first places in the corresponding list. As “Russian Athens” previously wrote, in recent years, car thefts and burglaries of vehicles have become more frequent in Greece. This trend has been observed since 2016.

Chart “Car theft and burglaries in recent years in Greece”:

Thefts and thefts in thousands of units throughout Greece

According to the Pricefox platform, the majority of crime occurs in two major regions. Statistics show that for every thousand inhabitants of the Attica and Thessaloniki region, there are 4 car thefts / burglaries.

Thefts and thefts in thousands of units in Thessaloniki

However, of particular interest are the statistics published by the British authorities showing how professional car thieves operate. According to British authorities, 85% of car thefts occur at night.

30% of cars will be disassembled for sale in the form of spare parts, in 37% of cases we are talking about cars that have not been on the road for a year (straight from the tin). As noted, the most common method of burglary is to enter the car through a door that is not locked (44%) or by intercepting the key’s radio signal (36%).

Chart “Car theft and burglaries in recent years in Greece”:

Thefts and thefts in thousands of units throughout Greece

According to the Pricefox platform, most of the crime occurs in two major regions. Statistics show that for every thousand inhabitants of the Attica and Thessaloniki region, there are 4 car thefts / burglaries.

Thefts and thefts in thousands of units in Thessaloniki

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