The number of cars stolen in France increased again last year (+5%), for the second year in a row after almost two decades of uninterrupted decline, Auto Plus magazine noted on Friday based on insurer data. By relating thefts to the number of models in circulation, the Toyota Rav 4 is the car most likely to be stolen for 2 years!
“140,400 vehicles were stolen in 2023 compared to 134,000 in 2022,” reports the specialist magazine, based on statistics from the Argos group, which brings together most insurers, and France Assureurs. SUVs are the cars most at risk, the Toyota RAV 4 being the model with the highest flight frequency : 274 thefts in 2023 for 10,000 insured vehicles. In other words, nearly 3% of Rav 4s were stolen in 2023. The hybrid SUV is ahead of the models in the ranking NX And UX from the high-end Toyota brand, Lexus.
“This trio shares the same qualities : strong demand abroad, particularly in Africa, and a protection system as easy to force as a child’s piggy bank,” explains Auto Plus.
“Most criminals are now part of very organized gangs”
Next in ranking is flight frequency (therefore relating flights to the number of models insured) the Audi A3 where the Range Rover 4. The first French car, the Peugeot 5008only arrives at 12th place for models most at risk. “Proof that, since the electronic fault problems have been resolved, the Peugeot and Citroën models are no longer so poorly protected,” believes Auto Plus. “The image of the thug who picks the lock, tinkers with the wires then storms off will soon be anachronistic,” believes Auto Plus. “Most criminals are now part of very organized gangs. »
Bouches-du-Rhône, Val-d’Oise, Seine-Saint-Denis…
If flights are also more numerous in the most populated departments – Bouches-du-Rhône, Val-d’Oise and Seine-Saint-Denis in the lead – Auto Plus underlines, however, that the number of stolen vehicles shows an increase of more than 50% in departments known to be quiet such as Indre, Lot and Lot-et-Garonne. Despite this upsurge over the past 2 years, car thefts remain at levels much lower than those from 2008 to 2010 when France experienced more than 200,000 thefts per year on average, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
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