Vehicle theft increased by 9% last year in France, with 133,800 cases recorded by the Coyote Secure observatory. Hybrid models are increasingly targeted.
It’s still an impressive figure: in France, a vehicle is stolen every 4 minutes. Last year, there were indeed 133,800 cases, up 9% compared to 2021, as revealed by the latest Coyote Secure observatory. The company, which installed more than 100,000 tracers last year, now has a fleet of 400,000 vehicles in France and Belgium, and completes its data from this study centered on France with that of the Ministry of Interior.
“This is a real break with the downward trend or a certain stabilization of flights in recent years, which reinforces the need to secure vehicles”, comments Kévin Vaney, spokesperson for Coyote.
Among the most affected regions, we find Ile-de-France on the podium, with 5.9 thefts for 1,000 vehicles equipped with a Coyote Secure solution. Ahead of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, with a loss rate of 4.2. With an 11% increase in flights last year, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region joined this uncoveted podium. These three regions alone account for more than half of vehicle thefts in France.
“What is notable this year is that the least affected regions are facing a sharp increase in thefts,” said Kévin Vaney.
The Coyote Secure Observatory thus notes an increase in thefts of 29% in Brittany, 21% in Centre-Val de Loire and 14% in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Highly sought-after hybrids
Unsurprisingly, SUVs remain the vehicles most sought after by thieves, with a loss rate of 3.2 per 1000, a figure however stable compared to 2021.
“The most significant increase over one year concerns hybrid models, whose risk of theft increases by more than 40% in 2022 to reach 3.3/1000”, notes the study of Coyote.
It has been a few years since hybrid vehicles have been particularly targeted by thieves, in particular for their exhaust pipes which contain rare metals such as rhodium, the price of which has jumped recently.
After the Prius in 2021, another Toyota model, the RAV4 SUV, finished first in the ranking of the most stolen cars in 2022 published by car plus.
A trend that Coyote Secure therefore clearly confirms, in particular with “incidental seizures”: when a vehicle equipped with a tracker is found, investigators can potentially get their hands on other stolen vehicles stored in the same place, but also spare parts, like these famous catalytic converters.
Two-wheelers and professional vehicles are still popular
Another favorite target of thieves: professional vehicles. Company and utility cars thus have a risk of theft almost twice as high as private vehicles. The study also notes a further increase of 13% in the theft of construction machinery, a phenomenon already noted last year.
But it is the two-wheelers that remain the most exposed to theft, with a loss rate of 52 per 1000 for scooters, 43 for motorcycles. Figures down from last year, but still much higher than cars.
If two-wheelers are most often kidnapped, in a truck for example, it is the technique of electronic theft which has now become essential for several years to steal cars. In 2022, this accounted for 88% of flights. On the positive side, the vehicles, when they are found, have suffered little damage, which reduces the cost of repairs to be carried out. We still have to find them (see box).
Finally, what happens to vehicles once stolen? First sector: export abroad, but the study also points to the resale of spare parts or the laundering of vehicles, which makes it possible to create new and false documents to give it a second life in France. Rarer but still a reality: theft by organized crime to carry out operations such as robberies or “go fast”.
Cotoye Secure, how effective and what budget?
By concealing a small tracer the size of a packet of handkerchief in a vehicle (car and two-wheeler), Coyote Secure displays recovery rates of 93% of vehicles within 48 hours of reporting, while nearly 60% of vehicles stolen in France vanish into thin air.
On the budget side, it takes 99 euros for installation and a subscription at 14.99 euros per month, or 450 euros for two years of service. Note that some Coyote Secure partner insurers can reduce the car insurance premium. And we can easily understand why. The annual cost linked to car thefts for insurers is estimated at nearly 780 million euros.
