The NICB has today released its list called Hot Wheels which is a list of 10 of the most stolen vehicles in the US. This report has used the vehicle theft data that has been submitted by the law enforcement to the NCIC or the National Crime Information Center. It determines the vehicle model, make, and the model year most stolen vehicle in 2010.
The most stolen vehicles in the year 2010 were:
- 1991 Toyota Camry
- 1994 Honda Accord
- 1994 Acura Integra
- 1995 Honda Civic
- 1997 Ford F150 Series/Pickup
- 1999 Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size)
- 1999 Ford Taurus
- 2000 Dodge Caravan
- 2002 Ford Explorer
- 2004 Dodge Ram
This report the ‘Hot wheels’ is the only report, which examines all the theft data regardless of the insured status of the vehicle. This helps in providing a more complex view of the auto theft landscape. For instance, some of the older models of cars as well as trucks are very popular with car thieves as the parts are very valuable, but many of them are not insured against theft. However, the newer and far more expensive models that are insured are normally stolen in order to be resold in an intact condition with some fake vehicle identification numbers, or better still, they are shipped out of the country.
Perhaps for the first time since the year 2002, nationally – the thieves have preferred domestic makes to the foreign brands. While Ford took 3 spots, Dodge took 2, and Chevrolet held just 1, and the remaining four were held by Toyota, Honda, and Acura. However, the top 3 positions continue to be held by Toyota and Honda models and this trend has remained consistent since 2000.
There has been a decline in vehicle thefts since some time now. As per the FBI crime statistics in 2010, there has been a further 7.2% reduction in thefts reported since 2009. If the preliminary numbers hold when the final statistics are produced by the FBI sometime later this year, 2010 will have the fewest vehicle thefts since 1967.
One of the main reasons for a decrease in theft rates according to the statistics available in the Hot Wheels listis due to improved technology. Out of the almost 52,000 Honda Accords that were stolen during 2010, more than 44,000 models were made during the 1990s, when compared to lesser than 5,700 that were produced since 2000.
