In Nigeria, owners of new Toyota and Honda cars will be taking a big risk if they fail to comprehensively insure their vehicles against theft.
Statistics from the police showed that Toyota cars, followed by Honda and Nissan, in that order, were the highest on the list of stolen vehicles in Nigeria last year.
In Nigeria, the attraction is two major Japanese brands, Toyota and Honda.
In Nigeria, owners of new Toyota and Honda cars will be taking a big risk if they fail to comprehensively insure their vehicles against theft.
Statistics from the police showed that Toyota cars, followed by Honda and Nissan, in that order, were the highest on the list of stolen vehicles in Nigeria last year.
In Nigeria, the attraction is two major Japanese brands, Toyota and Honda.
The figures from the Lagos State Police Command indicated that out of 1,184 stolen cars recovered from thieves in Lagos and environs in 2012, 359 were Toyota vehicles of different models while Honda had 143.
An online report by online naij.com, interpreting the report, stated that Camry was the most attractive to car snatchers, with 126 recovered from them by the police, while the Corolla and the Sienna occupied the second and the third positions with 78 and 52, respectively.
Other Toyota variants such as Avensis, Yaris, and Sport Utility version, Highlander, were not spared either. Fifteen Toyota Highlanders and 18 Avensis and Yaris were also recovered.
Others were the Toyota RAV 4 (8), Carina (6), Sequoia (5), Fore-Runner (5), Land Cruiser (4), Prado Jeep (3), Celica (3), Coaster (3), Previa (2), Sukura (2), Funtan Jeep (1), Touring (1) and Tacoma 1.
For the Honda brands, the Accord had 104. Other variants stolen were CRV (9), Civic (7), Pilot (6), Odyssey (6), Baby Boy (3), Bull Dog (3) and City (1).
For the Nissan brands, the robbers snatched Murano Jeeps, with 12 recovered; while Pathfinder and Sunny versions recorded nine each. Others were Primera (8), Maxima (5), Altima (3), Almera (3), Xterra (2); while other variants like the X-Trail, Quest, Laurel, Bluebird, Sentra, Spera, Pick-up were also on the list.
The remaining 622 of the cars are from 20 other automobile brands and models.
In the US, German vehicles, in general, were among the most frequently stolen high-line products, perhaps no surprise considering brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW – which had two models in the top 10 – are also the luxury segment sales leaders.
Each of Japan’s three upscale brands had a single model on the list, as did Detroit’s Lincoln and Cadillac.
According to the NICB, the Mercedes C-Class was the most stolen luxury vehicle during the period it studied, from 2009 through 2012. Notably, the small Mercedes sedan, along with most of the other models on the list, is in the entry-luxury segment. Other models are the second-ranked BMW 3-Series, the Infiniti G at third, the eighth-ranked Acura TSX and the Lexus IS at ninth.
Among the more traditional luxury models were the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5-Series.
The big Mercedes S-Class was the only premium model on the top 10 list according to the NICB.
The trade organisation said it recorded just 4,384 luxury vehicles stolen during the four years covered by the study, a modest number compared with overall car theft figures.
One reason it gave was that luxury vehicles accounted for a fraction of the total US market.
It said, “Thieves often target mainstream vehicles that can readily be resold or stripped down for parts, luxury cars are far from immune. They tend to look for models that are in plentiful supply – and which may need collision and other repair parts, as a sizable number of stolen vehicles are stripped down rather than re-sold whole.
“Occasionally, high-end products will wind up being shipped out of the US, however, often to third-world markets where buyers might not want to ask too many questions.”
Of the 4,384 stolen luxury vehicles, the NICB reported that all but 713 have been recovered – a recovery rate of 83.7 per cent. Though the organisation did not offer an explanation, that may reflect the fact that many of the newer luxury models are equipped with advanced telematics and dedicated stolen vehicle recovery systems that allow police to track a vehicle and even shut down their engines to make it easier for authorities to catch a thief.
*Culled From The Punch
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