The cars that are most likely to be stolen

Americans love big, V8-powered, rear-wheel drive cars. That includes Americans who don’t want to pay for them.

The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat and Dodge Charger Hemi have repeated as the most-stolen vehicles in America, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).

“Theft claims for the Charger SRT Hellcat were more than 60 times more frequent than the average for all 2020-22 models, relative to their numbers on the road, while theft claims for the Charger HEMI were more than 20 times higher than average,” HLDI says.

Related: Good news about crime…well, except for this crime

Relative risk

Two organizations report on car theft in America and use different methods to reach their results. The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports raw numbers. They tend to show that the most common cars are the most commonly stolen because there’s heavy demand for their parts.

The HLDI, however, reports on the relative risk of theft for each car. An arm of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the HLDI is funded by a consortium of insurance companies and builds its data from their claims reports.

The Charger and its 2-door Challenger cousin have been among the top five most-stolen cars every year since 2011, the HLDI says. “But the frequency of claims has increased at a stunning rate. For 2020-22 Charger SRT Hellcat models, there were 25 whole-vehicle theft claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years, up from about 18 for 2019-21 models. For comparison, the most-stolen 2017-19 model, the Infiniti Q60, had only two thefts per 1,000 insured vehicle years.”

A viral trend targeting some older Hyundai
HYMTF,
+1.19%
and Kia
000270,
-1.13%
vehicles that lack a common anti-theft device helped put four Kia models into the top 20 this year.

Also see: The 9 things that are most likely to affect your auto insurance rates

EVs rarely stolen

What kind of cars do thieves avoid? Electric vehicles. The HLDI reports, “Six of the 20 models with the fewest claims for whole vehicle theft are electric vehicles.” That may be, the HLDI speculates, “because they are often parked overnight in well-lit and comparatively secure areas for charging.”

Don’t miss: Man sentenced to record prison term in fake native-Alaskan art scheme

The most stolen cars

Rank

Model

Vehicle size/type

Relative claim frequency (100 = average)

1

Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

Large car

6,128

2

Dodge Charger HEMI

Large car

2,197

3

Infiniti Q50

Midsize luxury car

878

4

Dodge Challenger

Large car

766

5

Land Rover Range Rover 4WD

Large luxury SUV

611

6

Kia Sportage

Small SUV

479

7

Land Rover Range Rover Sport 4WD

Large luxury SUV

460

8

Kia Sportage 4WD

Small SUV

415

9

Honda
HMC,

CR-V 4WD

Small SUV

409

10

BMW X6 4WD

Midsize luxury SUV

361

11

Kia Rio

Minicar

359

12

Kia Forte

Small car

357

13

Ford
F,
+0.08%
F-350 SuperCrew 4WD

Very large pickup

349

14

BMW X7 4WD

Large luxury SUV

338

15

Ford F-250 SuperCrew 4WD

Very large pickup

337

16

Honda Accord

Midsize car

306

17

Ram 3500 crew cab long-wheelbase 4WD

Very large pickup

306

18

Infiniti Q50 4WD

Midsize luxury car

287

19

Nissan
NSANY,
-0.47%
Maxima

Midsize car

284

20

Honda CR-V

Small SUV

270

This story originally ran on KBB.com.

Read the full article here