The 10 most stolen cars of 2022 REVEALED

Britain’s most-owned car is also the most stolen, with Ford Fiesta thefts increasing 53 per cent in 2022, according to official data exclusively shared with This is Money.

DVLA figures show that 5,979 Fiestas were reported stolen by owners last year compared to 3,909 in 2021. It means that a criminal made off with one every 88 minutes on average.

The Fiesta’s ranking as the most-stolen car in Britain doesn’t come as a huge surprise given that around 1.5 million are currently registered on the road. However, experts have previously warned that they could be at greater risk after Ford announced last year that it will stop making them, which would see the cost of Fiesta parts rise.

These new figures also suggest that thieves are continuing to target high-value motors, with Range Rovers second in the order of stolen vehicles by volume last year.

In fact, there was a 47 per cent rise in the number of the expensive SUVs unlawfully taken from their rightful owners in 2022 compared to the year previous, while Land Rover Discovery thefts also rose by more than half.

Is your car among the 10 most commonly stolen models? The figures have been provided by the DVLA following a Freedom of Information request

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency provided official vehicle theft data to car leasing comparison site, LeaseLoco, which has shared the information exclusively with us.

In total, 61,106 stolen cars of all makes and models were reported to the DVLA in 2022, compared to 48,493 in 2021 – an increase of 26 per cent.

That equates to a car stolen from its owner every eight-and-a-half minutes somewhere in the UK last year.

There were 12,613 more cars stolen last year than during 2021 (48,493), and 2,464 more than the 58,642 pinched during 2019, pre-pandemic, it added.

Of these 61,106 motors pinched in 2022, almost 10 per cent were Fiestas. 

The Ford Fiesta was the most stolen car by volume in Britain last year. It’s the most common model on the road, but data shows thefts rose year-on-year by a staggering 53%

The 5,979 Fiestas listed as stolen on DVLA records is 53 per cent higher than the previous year. Of the top 10 most commonly nicked cars, this is the most significant year-on-year rise.

While many will point to this primarily being a result of there being more Fiestas than any other model available to thieves, experts did warn last year that the modest Ford could become increasingly targeted now that production is due to end.

On 26 October last year, Ford made the shock announcement that it will cease making Fiestas in June 2023 as it looks to replace the immensely popular model with an all-new electric vehicle.

The confirmation saw the value of second-hand Fiestas last year rise almost instantly as owners looked to cash-in on the news.

But vehicle security experts also warned that Ford’s decision to cease manufacturing could ultimately spark an increase in demand for second-hand parts and therefore a rise in thefts.

British firm Tracker, which provides tracking devices to help locate vehicles if they’re stolen, told Fiesta owners to be ‘on their guard’ as their cars could become a hot target for thieves in the coming months and years.

Clive Wain, Tracker’s head of police liaison, told us: ‘It is common for any vehicle to become in high demand when supply stops, and the price of parts will slowly start to increase.

‘The end of the Fiesta doesn’t just signal the end of one of the most popular cars in the UK, but an even greater theft risk for those cars that are currently on the road.

‘Over the last few years, we’ve already seen that a global lack of good quality used vehicles, alongside spare parts shortages, are increasing the desirability of older, lower value cars like the Fiesta.

‘Vehicles are often stolen and stripped for their parts in chop shops or stolen to order to be shipped abroad to meet international demand.’

Commenting on the DVLA data, LeaseLoco’s CEO John Wilmot said: ‘The Ford Fiesta has retained its unenviable title as the most stolen car in Britain, with our research revealing that a Fiesta was stolen every 87 minutes somewhere in the UK last year.

‘However, it is likely to be the last year it tops the table, as Ford recently announced that it will be discontinuing the Fiesta in June, 47 years after the first model rolled off the production line.’

Range Rover is Britain’s second most-pinched car as thieves target high-value vehicles to order

Like last year, second in the list behind the Fiesta in terms of car theft volumes was the Range Rover.

A massive 5,533 were reported stolen to the DVLA, up from 3,754 in 2021 to mark a year-on-year increase of 47.4 per cent.

While the expensive SUV is relatively common with over 400,000 currently on the road, it certainly isn’t among the ten most-registered models in the UK and is less than a third the number of Fiestas in use in Britain today.

Yet more were stolen than Ford’s Focus hatchback (2,186) and Volkswagen’s Golf (2,036), both of which have far more registered examples.

The Range Rover is the second most stolen car in 2022, with 5,533 instances reported by police to the DVLA. It’s a year-on-year increase of 47% as criminals target high-value motors

The Ford Focus was the third most commonly pinched model, according to official records provided to LeaseLoco following an FOI request to the DVLA

Some 1,920 Land Rover Discovery 4X4s were taken by thieves in 2022. That’s a year-on-year rise of 52%

Fifth in the rankings of stolen cars was the Land Rover Discovery, with 1,920 reported to police and the DVLA in 2022. 

This is a 52.4 per cent increase of the 1,260 that were pinched in 2021 and is a higher theft volume than far more popular cars, like Vauxhall’s Corsa (1,280) and Astra (1,240).

Keyless cars ‘twice as likely to be stolen’ 

 

An insurer last year examined theft claims data and found that cars with keyless technology are twice as likely to be pinched as those without these features, and criminals are becoming increasingly brazen as more are ditching the cover of darkness to steal vehicles in broad daylight. 

Aviva said claims records held on its database for between August 2020 and August 2022 show that the number of cars stolen with keyless entry and keyless start systems were twice the volume of models without the tech.

A spokesperson told This is Money: ‘Analysis of our claims data reveals that theft claims are twice as likely to occur for keyless vehicles than non-keyless models.’

> Read more: How keyless cars are more likely to be stolen 

This hints at professional thieves taking cars to order based on their value to those higher up the crime chain.

These expensive cars are more vulnerable to ‘relay thefts’ because criminals can use hacking devices to infiltrate the keyless entry and keyless start systems that are often features of high-end motors. 

An investigation by insurer Direct Line spoke to car thieves last year, in which it interviewed them and found that most are going out to steal with a shopping list of vehicles, which usually consists of five or six models to target by those behind the black market.

These are specific requests for certain vehicles they want to break down for spare components or that are in high demand overseas, with pricey SUVs usually high on the list.

In return, thieves will typically secure a higher percentage of an in-demand vehicle’s value, though at best still hope to make just 5 per cent of what a valuable car is truly worth. 

Direct Line found that typically a car thief only secures around 1.25 per cent of the motor’s market price on average when rewarded for their illegal services.

‘The luxury SUV continues to be a popular target for sophisticated criminal gangs who have the knowledge and keyless tech to quickly gain entry,’ Leaseloco’s Wilmot added.

‘But our figures show that it isn’t just Range Rover thefts that are on the rise. There was an overall 26 per cent increase in car thefts last year.

‘Car owners need to be aware that thefts are on the rise and to take the appropriate precautions to avoid becoming a victim.’

Making up the rest of the top most commonly stolen cars are other examples of expensive vehicles likely high in demand on the black market.

This includes the BMW 3 Series, with 1,454 thefts down 0.7 per cent on 2021 records.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class and E-Class rounded out the top 10, with 1,378 (down 6.5 per cent) and 866 (up 5.9 per cent) instances respectively.  

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk