By Sean Tucker

Lock away your Dodge Charger

Americans love big, V8-powered, rear-wheel drive cars. That includes Americans who don’t want to pay for them.

The Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat and Dodge Charger Hemi have repeated as the most-stolen vehicles in America, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).

“Theft claims for the Charger SRT Hellcat were more than 60 times more frequent than the average for all 2020-22 models, relative to their numbers on the road, while theft claims for the Charger HEMI were more than 20 times higher than average,” HLDI says.

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Relative risk

Two organizations report on car theft in America and use different methods to reach their results. The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports raw numbers. They tend to show that the most common cars are the most commonly stolen because there’s heavy demand for their parts.

The HLDI, however, reports on the relative risk of theft for each car. An arm of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the HLDI is funded by a consortium of insurance companies and builds its data from their claims reports.

The Charger and its 2-door Challenger cousin have been among the top five most-stolen cars every year since 2011, the HLDI says. “But the frequency of claims has increased at a stunning rate. For 2020-22 Charger SRT Hellcat models, there were 25 whole-vehicle theft claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years, up from about 18 for 2019-21 models. For comparison, the most-stolen 2017-19 model, the Infiniti Q60, had only two thefts per 1,000 insured vehicle years.”

A viral trend targeting some older Hyundai and Kia vehicles that lack a common anti-theft device helped put four Kia models into the top 20 this year.

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EVs rarely stolen

What kind of cars do thieves avoid? Electric vehicles. The HLDI reports, “Six of the 20 models with the fewest claims for whole vehicle theft are electric vehicles.” That may be, the HLDI speculates, “because they are often parked overnight in well-lit and comparatively secure areas for charging.”

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The most stolen cars

Rank                 Model                  Vehicle size/type   Relative claim frequency(100 = average) 
1     Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat             Large car           6,128 
2     Dodge Charger HEMI                    Large car           2,197 
3     Infiniti Q50                          Midsize luxury car  878 
4     Dodge Challenger                      Large car           766 
5     Land Rover Range Rover 4WD            Large luxury SUV    611 
6     Kia Sportage                          Small SUV           479 
7     Land Rover Range Rover Sport 4WD      Large luxury SUV    460 
8     Kia Sportage 4WD                      Small SUV           415 
9     Honda HMC CR-V 4WD                    Small SUV           409 
10    BMW X6 4WD                            Midsize luxury SUV  361 
11    Kia Rio                               Minicar             359 
12    Kia Forte                             Small car           357 
13    Ford F F-350 SuperCrew 4WD            Very large pickup   349 
14    BMW X7 4WD                            Large luxury SUV    338 
15    Ford F-250 SuperCrew 4WD              Very large pickup   337 
16    Honda Accord                          Midsize car         306 
17    Ram 3500 crew cab long-wheelbase 4WD  Very large pickup   306 
18    Infiniti Q50 4WD                      Midsize luxury car  287 
19    Nissan NSANY Maxima                   Midsize car         284 
20    Honda CR-V                            Small SUV           270 

This story originally ran on KBB.com

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09-05-23 0502ET

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