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Ford Escape tops NICB list of most-stolen utility vehicles but 95% were recovered


June 16, 2014   by Canadian Underwriter


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The National Insurance Crime Bureau released Monday a report on thefts of utility vehicles in the United States over a four-year period, reporting three Ford Motor Co. models, one Kia Motors Corp. vehicle and Chrysler Group LLC’s Jeep Grand Cherokee made the list of the top five most-stolen sport-utility and crossover utility vehicles.

Des Plaines, Ill.-based NICB reported a total of 21,711 SUVs and crossover vehicles, of the 2011 through 2013 model years, were stolen in the United States between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2013.

“The top five makes and models stolen during the period were:  Ford Escape (1,421), Ford Edge (1,140), Ford Explorer (958), Jeep Grand Cherokee (912) and the Kia Sorento (725),” NICB stated.

“CUVs, in general, had more thefts with 15,785 CUV thefts versus 5,926 SUV thefts,” NICB stated. “CUV thefts rose 31% from the prior report while SUV thefts decreased by 25%.”

The previous report of SUV and CUV thefts was on the 2009 through 2011 model years stolen between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011.

In the most recent report, when ranked by make and model, there was only one SUV model (the Jeep Grand Cherokee) on the top ten list, while the other nine were crossovers.

Ford was the only manufacturer to have three vehicles listed. Ranked sixth through 10th were: General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Traverse (with 720 vehicles in model years 2011 through 2013 stolen during the four-year period); Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.’s Rogue (695); Honda Motor Co.’s CR-V (688); Toyota Motor Corp.’s Rav4 (665); and the Chevrolet Equinox (640).

NICB also included statistics on unrecovered vehicles. For example, of 323 Mercedes-Benz GL class vehicles stolen, 112, or 37%, were unrecovered, NICB stated. Meanwhile, 95% of the Ford Escapes reported stolen were recovered.

“Overall, 13%, or 2,834, of the SUV and CUV thefts in this analysis were unrecovered as of March 31, 2014,” NICB stated in the report. “These vehicles may have been targeted by sophisticated organized theft rings which dismantle stolen vehicles for parts, VIN switch them to resell to unsuspecting buyers, or export them to other countries.”

NICB has more than 1,100 members, including P&C carriers and self-insured organizations. It aims to prevent and detect insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness.


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