2011’s 10 Most-Stolen Vehicles

The National Insurance Crime Bureau’s (NICB) annual “Hot Wheels” report, released today, says 2011 is on track to continue the national vehicle theft decline. Preliminary 2011 FBI crime statistics indicate a 3.3 percent reduction from the 737,142 thefts recorded in 2010.

For its report, NICB examines all theft data—even without regard to a vehicle’s insured status—submitted by law enforcement to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and determines the vehicle make, model and model year most reported stolen in 2011.

For 2011, the most stolen vehicles in the United States were:

1. 1994 Honda Accord

2. 1998 Honda Civic

3. 2006 Ford Pickup (Full Size)

4. 1991 Toyota Camry

5. 2000 Dodge Caravan

6. 1994 Acura Integra

7. 1999 Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size)

8. 2004 Dodge Pickup (Full Size)

9. 2002 Ford Explorer

10. 1994 Nissan Sentra

While the overall theft is down, NICB President and CEO Joe Wehrle pointed to a trend toward increases in the thefts of late model vehicles—ones that are theoretically harder to steal due to sophisticated key code technology. “Today’s vehicle thieves are typically professional criminals who have figured out how to get the key code for a specific vehicle, have a replacement key made, and steal the vehicle within a matter of days,” he said. “We are aware of nearly 300 thefts that took place in the first three months of this year in which we believe replacement keys using illegally obtained key codes were used to steal the vehicle. We are working closely with our member companies, law enforcement, and the vehicle manufacturers to track these illegal key code transactions and stop the thefts or recover the stolen vehicles before they can be resold here or shipped out of the country to be sold overseas.”

To see last year’s results, click here.