The Ford Escape has earned the dubious honor of heading the list of the most-stolen SUVs/CUVs, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which uses the National Crime Information Center’s (NCIC) vehicle theft data to identify trends and patterns regarding sport utility vehicle (SUV) and crossover utility vehicle (CUV) thefts in the United States.
Between Jan. 1, 2008 and June 30, 2012, 1,014 Ford Escapes were reported stolen. Filling out the top 10 is the Chevrolet Tahoe (856), Toyota RAV4 (801), Ford Edge (739), Dodge Journey (721), Honda CR-V (643), Jeep Wrangler (643), Jeep Grand Cherokee (641), Nissan Rogue (547) and Nissan Murano (473).
In terms of class, entry-level CUV thefts were most reported with 6,357. Mid-range CUVs came in second with 3,560, followed by large SUVs with 2,454.
California led states in SUV/CUV thefts with 3,003, significantly leading Texas (1,826), Florida (1,784) and New York (1,754).
When examined by core-based statistical area (CBSA), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA posted the most thefts with 2,438. That was followed by the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA CBSA with 1,229 thefts. The Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI CBSA was third with 1,215 thefts.
Overall, 15 percent of the SUV and CUV thefts in this analysis were unrecovered as of Sept. 30, 2012.
By volume, entry-level CUVs have the highest number of unrecovered vehicles with 571. However, these unrecovered thefts represent only 9 percent of all entry-level CUV thefts, the lowest percentage unrecovered for all the classes. Premium large SUVs have the highest percentage of unrecovered thefts with 29 percent unrecovered. Interestingly, all of the highest unrecovered classes by percentage are SUVs, including premium large, upper mid-range, hybrid, and large. These classes also consist of some of highest dollar values for all SUV and CUV classes.
