Car theft is a moving feast

Four years ago the typical stolen car was very different from today’s. And New South Wales was the stolen-car Mecca of Australia in 2013 – but no more.

Data compiled by Compare the Market shows a very different car thief demographic for 2016 than the data compiled at the end of 2013.

Two things that particularly stand out from the comparison are the changing tastes of car thieves and the rankings of the target-rich environments.

The VT Commodore has steadily fallen out of favour with car thieves – no doubt because it’s harder to find them. It’s likely the thieves themselves who have worsened the VT series’ attrition rate, with many of them broken down for the illicit trade in parts. Also, many VT Commodores have probably been sent to the wreckers after they ceased to be economical to repair. In 2013 the VT Commodore was mega-popular with car thieves, topping the ladder with 966 incidents.

But three years on, theft of the VT Commodore has dropped to 687 – behind the Toyota HiLux (759), VE Commodore (860) and the new champion, the Nissan Pulsar N15, which was involved in 932 instances of theft last year.

Back in 2013 New South Wales accounted for the highest percentage of car-theft incidents, with a figure of 13,780 reports – or 32 per cent of the national total, 43,380. Victoria, with 9989 incidents (23 per cent) placed second that year.

Now the tables have turned, with Victoria’s rapid population growth bringing with it a major escalation in car-related crime. Victoria’s share in 2015/16 was 15,111, an increase of over 5000 cars stolen in just three short years.