ROME – One million cars stolen in the last ten years. And, after last year’s decline, in the first five months of 2021, thefts started to rise again.
These are data from LoJack, the stolen vehicle recovery system (company of the CalAmp Group), which – in a recent dossier – reports how the percentage of recovery of stolen cars in our country is reduced (38%), while growing significantly the number of vehicles that, once stolen, disappear into thin air.
In the last decade, 682,000 cars have disappeared, the rest are motorcycles, light commercial vehicles and heavy vehicles. Then, with the disappearance of traffic restrictions, vehicle thefts began to increase significantly (+ 25%).
2020 was an extraordinary year, thanks to the reduced circulation of vehicles and checks by the police, but the fact remains that 2 out of 3 stolen cars now do not return to their rightful owner, routed in the direction of foreign markets (especially Eastern Europe or North Africa) or used to fuel the profitable spare parts business.
The “red” regions? If more is stolen in Campania, less is recovered in Lazio. But Puglia, Sicily and Lombardy also contributed, making 83% of national thefts. The data also says that after the first 24 hours the chances of tracing the cars are reduced to a minimum. One solution is hi-tech devices that are not easily “hackable”. The Panda remains the preferred car, hence the 500, the Punto, the Y and the Golf.
For Maurizio Iperti, Senior VP LoJack EMEA and CEO of LoJack Italia, “these are alarming figures, especially with the disappearance of traffic restrictions and summer just around the corner: it is easy to assume that the numbers will tend to rise. To avoid being a victim of this crime, even more unpleasant during the holidays, it is necessary to pay maximum attention while driving, when leaving your car for even a few minutes and above all to defend yourself adequately thanks to the available technologies, guaranteeing a quick and effective intervention after the eventual subtraction “.
.