Last week, LoJack Corporation revealed findings of its fourth Annual Vehicle Theft Recovery Report in the U.S. In 2012, the report revealed that almost $125 million worth of vehicles fitted with LoJack devices were recovered by law enforcement officials.
The top five vehicles stolen in the U.S. last year consisted of Honda/Acura and Toyota models, with the Honda Accord ranked as number one, followed by the Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Acura Integra and Toyota Corolla.
“According to the most recent reports from the FBI, a vehicle is stolen every 44 seconds,” said Patrick Clancy, vice president of law enforcement for LoJack Corporation. “Today’s report data reveals that cars, trucks and SUVs equipped with LoJack devices were recovered 94 per cent of the time in 2012. Such a significant recovery success rate — is even more impressive as the national recovery rate for stolen vehicles is at a 30-year low of 52 per cent.”
In Canada, official 2012 statistics on stolen vehicles have yet to be released, however in an interview with Michael Lendick, National Security Director at LoJack Canada, Canadian auto dealer learned of some interesting statistics regarding stolen vehicles and recovery rates. Although LoJack is currently only available in Quebec and Ontario, both provinces represent around half of all vehicle thefts in Canada. “Current numbers show around 86,000 vehicles are stolen each year, of that number approximately 24,000 are in Quebec and 23,000 in Ontario.” Lendick says that in contrast to the U.S., LoJack devices tend to be installed on higher end vehicles, such as premium cars and SUVs, though of those that are equipped, approximately 90 per cent are recovered. He also says that like the U.S. vehicle thefts are trending downward due to the growing sophistication of alarm, immobilizer and tracking systems installed on newer vehicles.
