After nearly two decades of uninterrupted decline, we hoped never to see it again tendency to reverse development. Carjacking, a practice from another time, to which the Covid-19 period was to deal the final blow. Unfortunately, it took less than two years for the numbers to return to 2019 levels!

The Renault Clio is the most stolen car in France

With over 384 flights every day, or 16 cars every hour (cars and two-wheelers combined, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs), no motorist is immune from car theft. Especially since bandits are no longer limited to large metropolises to find their prey. Their desired goals generally have the same “qualities”: a high demand (often abroad) and a protection system too easy to force. The first observation Cars that sell best are also stolen the most. It’s math! Models that are found on every street corner accumulate the most hacking attempts. So, Clio, the most represented car in the French fleet, is also apparently the most stolen. However, their owners have ten times less “chance” to steal it that those who have a Toyota Rav4. Hence our choice to weigh the numbers through analysis theft rate per 10,000 insured cars. Otherwise, it is impossible to find out what the favorite models of thugs are!

More organized and technologically advanced thieves

The image of a thug who picks a car lock or breaks a window, breaks the starter wires, and then runs away will soon become an anachronism. Most of the thugs who steal your cars are now part highly organized gangs. And with several thousand euros earned per vehicle, the market is juicy, less risky – and less sanctioned – than other illicit traffic (drugs, weapons). Therefore, it is unlikely that these criminal networks will disappear in the near future, although specialized investigators regularly eliminate them. As for theft methods, electronic hacking is becoming more common. Usually called ” jack mouse“, this invisible hacking technique is 70% or even 88% of flights according to sources. And you don’t need to be an electronics whiz to use the “toys” required for this traffic. The first driver you meet can leave with your car in less than three minutes. There are several methods of remotely hacking a car key or card. Everyone wins shortcomings of the computer system cars Starting with wave damper. It catches the signals emitted by the car’s remote key and prevents it from closing automatically. Once inside, it is equipped with an electronic box that it plugs into OBD diagnostic connector, the thug just needs to reprogram a blank key and get started. Anyone can get these inexpensive materials online without even using the Darknet. Another discreet technique that should fool the police: portable speaker type box. Extremely effective and profitable from the first drive, it contains a digital kit (or fake key) that allows you to start the target cars. The vehicles are then immediately hidden before disappearing in containers ready for shipment to Africa (Senegal, Gambia, Ivory Coast, etc.) or into trucks for “replenishment” in Eastern Europe. When they are not immediately dismembered in a communal garage to supply the black market with used spare parts.

Top 10 most stolen cars in 2023

Thanks to the assistance ofArgosa professional insurance organization that, together with law enforcement agencies, searches for, identifies and recovers stolen vehicles, as well as France Insurers, which collects data from member insurance companies, we determined the theft rates (the number of reported thefts compared to a group of 10,000 insured cars) of nearly 300 private car models less than 10 years old. It is not surprising that a Japanese threesome leads, as in 2022.

Frequency of thefts (per 10,000 insured cars)

1. Toyota Rav4 (5th generation): 274
2. Lexus NX : 220
3. Lexus UX :99
4. Audi A3 (3 generations): 61
5. Range Rover (4 generations): 56
6. Alfa Romeo Giulietta (2nd generation): 54
7. Range Rover Sport (2nd generation): 51
8. Toyota C-HR :49
9. Renault Megane (4 generations): 48
10. Renault Talisman :34

To find the rest of the ranking (top 50), go to the newsstand with No. 1851 from the magazine AutoPlus !

Read also:

• Stolen cars: here is the 2023 blacklist
• Blacklist: Which models are the most stolen in 2022?
• Car theft: how to limit the risks?