Vehicle break-ins spike in Australia
And car thefts in the USA hit 14-year high… so why are criminals busting into cars in record numbers?Are car thieves becoming more brazen, car owners more careless or is anti-theft tech simply lacking? The answer probably all of the above.
According to the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS), motor vehicle theft rose by 11 per cent in Australia in 2022, but the more telling statistic comes from independent research that indicates 8.7 per cent of Australians had their car/s broken into during the past year.
Comparison website Compare the Market has released new data showing that Australian motor vehicle break-ins – but not necessarily car thefts – are going through the roof for a number of reasons, including challenging economic conditions.
“Given the current economic climate, which is disproportionately affecting younger people, who we know are more likely to have older cars, we may begin to see the younger demographic being targeted by these thieves,” said Compare the Market’s GM of general insurance, Adrian Taylor.
He added that the number of car break-ins “…may be a symptom of the huge uptake of second-hand cars during the pandemic years when new car deliveries were stalled … it may be easier for would-be thieves to break into older models.”
Looking at the ABS statistics concerning car theft – where the car is stolen, not just broken into – there were 55,037 victims recorded by police in Australia in 2022, an increase of 11 per cent or 5302 victims over 2021.
Queensland experienced the largest increase in car theft – up by a whopping 25 per cent – followed by Victoria, which recorded a seven per cent increase.
But spare a thought for car owners in the US, where vehicle thefts reached a 14-year high in 2022, when more than one million vehicles were stolen in North America according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Several American cities are now suing Kia and Hyundai, which are among the most stolen vehicle brands in the US due to the lack of immobilisers in some models. US law doesn’t require immobilisers to be fitted in new cars sold there.
In Chicago, America’s third largest city behind New York and Los Angeles, Kia and Hyundai vehicles accounted for around 40 per cent of car thefts in 2022 and it’s up to 50 per cent in 2023.
The city is alleging that by not including immobilisers, the car-makers made these vehicles more appealing and easier to steal, making them negligent.
Car immobilisers have been mandatory for all new cars sold in Australia since 2001. Following the impending lawsuits in the US, both Hyundai and Kia are now including them on all models sold in North America.
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