 News Release |
Overall losses for pickups have increased sharply since 1999. This is
mainly because of high theft claims for the Dodge Ram and Ford F-250/350.
In contrast, losses for cars and SUVs increased slightly in 2003-04 but
declined in 2005. The rate of theft of pickups in 2005 was nearly twice
as high as for cars or SUVs.
This is the fourth year in a row that the Escalade has topped the list
of vehicles most likely to have a theft claim. In fact, 4 versions of
the Escalade (EXT, a specialty pickup, plus 2- and 4-wheel-drive versions
of the short- and long-wheelbase Escalade SUVs) head the list of the worst
overall insurance losses for theft among all passenger vehicles. The EXT
has overall theft losses that are 16 times higher than the average.
"The overall results show the Escalade has not only the highest
rate of claims but also very expensive claims when they are filed,"
says Kim Hazelbaker, HLDI senior vice president. "In fact, almost
one-quarter of theft claims for the Escalade are for $40,000 or more,
indicating that thieves often are stealing the whole vehicles and not
just their parts."
The Escalade's theft losses have been the highest in recent years
even though this vehicle is equipped with a standard antitheft ignition
immobilizer. An immobilizer is built into a vehicle's electronic
ignition system. It's supposed to prevent the vehicle from being
started without the proper key.
Cadillac redesigned the Escalade for 2007 and upgraded its antitheft
system. It's too soon to know if the new model will have a lower
theft rate than the previous ones.
The high-performance Lancer Evolution is new this year to the list of
vehicles with the highest theft losses. Investigators say this model may
be attracting the attention of thieves because its parts can be used to
customize standard Lancers.
Geographic differences in theft losses across the United States: HLDI's findings show that vehicle models with high overall theft
losses vary by geographic area. For example, the Dodge Stratus and its
twins, Chrysler Sebring and Plymouth Breeze, have very high losses in
and around Washington, DC. Losses also are high for the 2003 Nissan Maxima
and for the Lexus RX 330 in areas in and around New York City. Results
for the Maxima and Lexus are believed to be associated with their expensive
Xenon headlights.
HLDI results are the only reported theft results based on the number
of insured vehicles on the road. Information on theft losses published
by the National Insurance Crime Bureau and CCC Information Services doesn't
take into account how many of each vehicle are insured, so the most popular
vehicles on the road tend to top these organizations' lists of
most-stolen vehicles. In contrast, HLDI identifies vehicles with the worst
theft losses by counting the number of claims by make and model relative
to the number of each make and model insured, indicating which vehicles
are most likely to be targets.
Long-term trends: Overall theft losses, stated as average
loss payments per insured vehicle year, reflect both how often theft claims
are filed for a particular vehicle and the cost of the claims. Since 1980
theft claim frequencies have declined while average insurance payments
per theft claim have increased. However, these trends have leveled off
in recent years. The result is that since the mid-1990s overall theft
losses have declined by about 25 percent. |
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