Remarkable: This makes the Toyota Auris popular with thieves

January is the month of lists about the previous year. Today there is another custom-made product for Autoland. We know which cars were stolen the most in 2022.

The Volkswagen Golf, we can hear you thinking. But no! The Toyota RAV4 was the model most often found in the hands of car thieves last year. 465 pieces to be exact. This is reported by the National Intelligence and Expertise Center for Vehicle Crime (LIV).

catalyst

Toyota also tops list of most stolen brands. 1036 stolen cars in 2022 were a Toyota. The numbers on the Auris are interesting. The car is stolen mainly because of the parts. 73 percent of the 193 stolen Aurisses were found, but without a catalyst.

There is bad news, especially in the total number of car thefts. Where there was a decrease in 2021, theft increased again in 2022. A total of 5973 cars were involved, which is eleven percent more than a year earlier. Almost half (45 percent) of these cars were recovered. The increase in cars that are 20 years old and older is remarkable. In this category we see an 18 percent increase in thefts. Possible reasons for this are the increased demand for youngtimers and classics.

darkness

The LIV sees a number of problems with car theft. The organization says it is increasingly about embezzlement. Think of cars that have been borrowed or rented but not returned. Where there were only 400 evictions in 2016, there were 1,100 cases in 2022. Part of this increase is, of course, due to the increasing popularity of rental and leasing vehicles.

In addition, the LIV insists on theft prevention. According to the organization, older vehicles in particular are not equipped with security devices, giving criminals “free rein,” while cybercrime appears to still be a major problem for newer vehicles. Finally, American research shows that several brands are easy to hack. “Vehicle theft prevention is a shared responsibility between manufacturers, insurers and owners,” concludes LIV.