VE Holden Commodore is the most stolen car: report

Watch out if you live in Brisbane and own a VE Commodore, according to national statistics for 2017, compiled by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council, you’re the most likely vehicle theft target in the country.

The report found that of 52,858 motor vehicle thefts last year, 42,592 of them were passenger cars or light commercial vehicles. 

The good news is that this represents a 7.1% decrease in motor vehicle thefts relative to 2016 results, where a total of 56,927 vehicle thefts occurred.

The most popular target for thieves by a 200-car margin (at 908 cars) was the Holden VE Commodore. This number is down from the most stolen car of 2016, which was the Nissan Pulsar (N15) at 1062 cars.

The Pulsar (1995-2000) was still the second most stolen car at 747 units, number three was the Toyota Hilux (2005-2011), number four the Ford Falcon BA (2002-2005) and the Holden Commodore VY (2002-2004) came in at number five.

Interestingly, the VE Commodore, HiLux and BA Falcon all have security systems with immobilizers. The most recently released vehicle in the top-20 list of most stolen vehicles was the VF Commodore (2013-2017) with 352 units stolen. 

The VF Commodore was the most recently-released vehicle appearing in the top-20 most stolen list.

Where are the hotspots for vehicle theft in Australia? By state, Victoria had the most passenger vehicle thefts at 12,768 cars – representing 38% of the country’s total, followed closely by NSW at 10,037, and QLD with 9029. The state with the least theft was the NT with just 837 cars stolen.

The stats by local government area told a different story, as Brisbane City had almost twice the amount of theft as the next area down the list with a total of 2,118 cars stolen (up 18.3% over last year). 

In fact, Queensland had three of the top five theft hotspots in the country, including the Gold Coast in second position with 1375 thefts and Logan in fourth with 926 thefts. Overall the state experienced a 10% increase in vehicle theft.

Total value of the cars stolen last year amounts to $505,999,087, with the primary motivator for theft remaining as “short-term” rather than “profit-motivated”. Apparently the most popular time bracket for vehicle theft around the country in 2017 was between 4.00pm and 8.00pm on a Friday.

Are you surprised by any of the findings here? Tell us what you think in the comments below.​