It’s every car owner’s nightmare: where your own car used to be, there’s now a gap on the side of the road. First thought: The car has been towed! But no parking bans and unpaid parking meters speak for it. The unthinkable is quickly becoming reality: car thieves hit it.
According to the latest figures from the German Insurance Association (GDV), exactly 9,805 drivers experienced this or a similar situation in Germany last year. As a result, the number of stolen cars has dropped to a new record, for the first time since theft data has been recorded below the 10,000 mark. Already in 2020, there was a 25 percent decrease in car thefts compared to the previous year. In 2021, the number fell again by eight percent. For comparison: In the mid-1990s, more than 100,000 car thefts were recorded in Germany each year!
Big lust for SUVs
According to GDV, improved technical protection such as an immobilizer and better law enforcement and border security make it harder for thieves (also interesting: keyless systems make it easier for car thieves). However, the distress for those affected is great. The vehicles chosen by the thieves are also big: Nine of the ten most frequently stolen model series were SUVs.
The theft rate for Land Rover vehicles was particularly high last year. Three models from the UK are among the top ten most stolen cars in Germany, with Range Rover (11.1 stolen vehicles per 1000), Range Rover Sport (6.5) and Velar (5.9). While only one model in the top ten with the BMW X6 is German-made, the vehicle most popular with thieves is not an SUV. With 11.9 stolen models per 1,000 vehicles, Kia’s sports sedan Stinger leads the most stolen car statistics in Germany.
Highest rate in Berlin
When it comes to theft rate, all non-German cars lead the statistics. But measured in absolute numbers, vehicles from BMW brands including Volkswagen (1,525 stolen cars), Audi (1,286), Mercedes (997) and its Mini subsidiary (938) are the most coveted by thieves. Almost half of the stolen cars belong to these manufacturers. In contrast, “only” 177 Land Rovers were reported stolen in Germany.
Meanwhile, drivers need to be most careful in the capital Berlin: the theft rate was the highest there last year, with 2,200 stolen cars. Hamburg is in second place by a large margin (712 thefts), followed by Düsseldorf (142), Bremen (116) and Hannover (111).
Switzerland ahead of Germany
A look at international statistics shows how low the theft rate in Germany really is. The risk of becoming a victim of car theft in Switzerland is even higher, according to figures from December 2021 by the British comparison portal puzzle.com. Between 2011 and 2019, an average of 85 cars were stolen per 100,000 people per year in Switzerland, compared to just 71 in Germany.
Italy at the top
Thieves most often attack a holiday resort that is also extremely popular with Swiss: in Italy, statisticians record 276 car thefts per 100,000 inhabitants per year. The most popular model among car thieves was the Fiat Panda last year: in 2021, 8,816 models of the small-town runabout in Italy unintentionally changed hands. The Czech Republic (274), Sweden (266), France (261) and Greece (255) follow with the most thefts.
But measured in absolute numbers, Italy isn’t the sad leader in car theft statistics, but France: Italy averaged 455 vehicles a day, versus 474 in the Grande Nation. In Switzerland, an average of 19 cars were reported stolen per day as part of the Study.