Favorite cars of consumers, and also… of thieves. SUVs continue to be the cars most likely to be stolen, according to the latest ranking prepared by AutoPlus magazine, based on data from insurers.
The Toyota Rav 4 continues to be the model with the highest frequency of thefts for the second consecutive year: 274 thefts in 2023 for 10,000 insured vehicles. In other words, almost 3% of Rav 4s were stolen in 2023. The hybrid SUV is ahead of the NX and UX models from Toyota’s high-end brand, Lexus.
“As easy to break into as a piggy bank”
“This trio shares the same ‘qualities’: strong demand abroad, especially in Africa, and a protection system as easy to break into as a child’s piggy bank,” Auto Plus explains.
It is followed in the ranking by the Audi A3 or the Range Rover 4. The first French car, the Peugeot 5008, only occupies 12th place among the most risky models. “The proof is that, since the electronic problems were solved, the Peugeot and Citroën models are no longer so poorly protected,” considers Auto Plus.
“The image of the thug picking the lock, fiddling with the wires and then storming off will soon be anachronistic, reckons Auto Plus. Most thugs are now part of highly organized gangs.”
Almost 400 cars stolen every day in France
In France, an average of 384 cars are stolen every day. This represents a total of 140,400 vehicles in 2023. This figure increases for the second consecutive year, after almost two decades of uninterrupted decline, highlights Auto Plus.
In volume, The Clio remains the most stolen car in France.. A quite logical figure because it is one of the most represented vehicles in the French automobile fleet. Proportionally, a Clio is 10 times less likely to be stolen than the number 1 in the ranking prepared by Auto Plus.
50% increase in certain departments
Although thefts are also more numerous in the most populated departments (Bouches-du-Rhône, Val-d’Oise and Seine-Saint-Denis in the lead), Auto Plus highlights that the number of stolen vehicles is increasing by more than 50% in departments known for being quiet such as Indre, Lot and Lot-et-Garonne.
Despite this increase over the past two years, car thefts remain at much lower levels than from 2008 to 2010, when France experienced more than 200,000 thefts per year on average, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Source: BFM TV
