Motor Industry Says: Today’s Cars Are Nigh Impossible to Steal

In the UK, car theft is down by more than 60% over the last seven years thanks to improvements in anti-theft technology. Coded car keys, alarms, immobilisers, better locks, strengthened glass and built-in tracking devices have made the modern automobile virtually impossible to steal.
Some 80% of car thefts now require would-be thieves to steal the owner’s keys or otherwise load their targets onto trailers for transport. And even then, tracking systems in some high-end cars mean these cars are recovered rather quickly.
Andrew Miller, the Director of the sinisterly named Thatcham car insurance repair research centre, told the BBC:
"[The motor industry is] doing everything possible to crack down on car crime. Now it is the motorist's responsibility to drive down vehicle theft figures."
Car thefts topped 600,000 a year in 1991, though now are down to a far more reasonable 107,000 a decade later. A vast majority of the cars stolen in the UK this year were over three years old.
The 2011 British Insurance Vehicle Security Awards recognised Volkswagen and Vauxhall UK for their cars and vans respectively, and special honours were given to the Audi A1, the Volvo C30 and the Citroen C5 Exclusive.

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