Australia’s most stolen cars revealed

Data compiled by Compare the Market lists three Commodores inside the top four on 2013’s most stolen list.

The VT Commodore was the hottest property among thieves with 966 recorded stolen. The VE Commodore was a close second at 830 thefts, while the Hyundai Excel X3 (758) cracked the podium ahead of the VX Commodore (600).

The Toyota HiLux is the most popular ute among thieves, with 573 reported stolen last year.

There’s little competition in the traditional battle of Holden versus Ford, with 3798 Commodores stolen last year compared with 1391 Falcons (based on the list of the top 30 most stolen vehicles).

A total of 43,380 passenger vehicles were stolen across the country in 2013, averaging 156 per day.

Almost one third of those were in New South Wales (13,780), while close to a quarter were stolen in Victoria (9989). Queensland was a close third at 9127 and 21 per cent, with the remaining 10,484 stolen in Western Australia (12 per cent), South Australia (seven per cent), Tasmania and Northern Territory (two per cent each) and the Australian Capital Territory (one per cent).

More than 30 per cent of car thefts occurred on Fridays and Saturdays, and 31 per cent took place between 8pm and midnight. Almost half of all vehicles were stolen from a residence.

Compare the Market estimates the total value of cars stolen in 2012/2013 to be more than $500 million.

Three quarters of all vehicles stolen last year were recovered, though 50 each week were stolen to be turned into scrap metal, and 20 per week were stolen and exported from Australia.

In addition to cars, the data reveals 92 buses were stolen as well as 59 tractors, 43 forklifts, seven rollers, five bulldozers and one crane.