Franch vehicles are the ones that report the highest number of theft claims

Every year, Spain’s insurance industry association, Unespa, produces a comprehensive report on the state of insurance in our country. Under the “Estamos Seguros” initiative, Unespa produces a thorough analysis of the situation of the different types of insurance in Spain, with statistics and data.

Among the highlights of the report for the past year, Unespa cross-references data on theft claims filed in our country, drawing up a list of the models most at risk of being stolen on our streets and roads and those least at risk. This year’s ranking is certainly surprising.

According to the report, the vehicles most at risk of theft in Spain, both for complete vehicle theft and for the theft of some of their parts, are mostly models produced by French brands and, even more curiously, most of those models have already been discontinued by their own manufacturers.

The list of models with the highest number of thefts is headed by the Citroën Saxo, Peugeot 406, Dacia Duster, Peugeot 306 and the Citroën Xsara. This list is compiled by cross-referencing data on vehicles insured against theft with the list of those models that have actually been stolen and reported, which makes it possible to establish a relationship from which to calculate the probability that owners of that vehicle will suffer a theft. The already obsolete and discontinued Citroën Saxo shows a 240% higher probability of being stolen than any other vehicle on the market.

Conversely, vehicles from Korean and Japanese brands are the ones that seem to attract the least attention from those with light fingers. The Hyundai i30, Kia cee’d, Hyundai iX35, Honda C-RV and Hyundai Getz close the risk list (which does not mean they are not subject to theft). Only two European models (curiously also French), the Renault Scénic and the Peugeot 308, make it into the 10 models with the lowest declared risk percentage in the Unespa study.

For the insurance industry association, whether a vehicle is the target of a greater or lesser number of thefts does not necessarily relate directly to the greater or lesser provision of anti-theft security features it has, as there are many other causes that also play a role.

The main one of these appears to be the sale of the vehicle for parts, a reason that makes certain models a clear target for the gangs that dismantle vehicles to sell their parts on the black market, both domestic and international. The organisations focus on the most numerous cars and those of greater age, as they are easier to steal and their parts easier to place on the black market.

In 2010, Unespa recorded 220,000 theft claims (both for complete and partial vehicle thefts), a figure that fell by 75,000 units in 2015, when 145,000 thefts were reported. The lesser weight of the crisis and the ever-greater security offered by cars are some of the reasons that may explain this decline.

That they do not appear among the leaders does not mean that the high-end models of the most sought-after brands are not stolen; it is simply that, as their numbers are clearly lower, their risk percentage is also reduced, especially as they are more modern, since the greater number of security measures that manufacturers have recently implemented in them, and the equipment that allows them to be detected and geolocated, make the work of thieves much harder, because these vehicles are usually stolen to be sold whole and not for parts.

It is also the case that many of the parts of the models at the top of the ranking can be used in many other models on the market, which makes them much more attractive to the thieves. This is not so much the case with models of Asian origin, hence the lower interest these vehicles hold for thieves.

Good proof of this is that discontinued cars such as the Citroën Saxo and Xsara appear among the top of the list. Logic suggests that the high number of units both sold in our country at the time means that, after so many years, their parts are highly prized on the black market. The Xsara alone accounts for more than 5 percent of the thefts reported to insurers in Spain.

But be alert and do not let your guard down, because 20 percent of the thefts that occur in Spain correspond to models such as the Seat Ibiza, the Volkswagen Golf, the Seat León and the BMW Serie 3. So nobody is safe.

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