Car thefts are on the rise in Italy: the threshold of 104,000 vehicles stolen in one year exceeded. But what worries the most, in addition to the reversal of the trend recorded last year, is also the confirmation of the difficulties encountered in the recovery of stolen vehicles with the percentage of recoveries that in 2021 dropped to 37%: almost two vehicles out of three stolen. they disappear into thin air.
Only technology can in fact stem this phenomenon and it is no coincidence that in the most advanced countries from the automotive point of view – see USA, Japan and Germany – the findings of stolen cars have double percentages compared to the Italian one. In our country, on the other hand, with an average age of 12 years in circulation, we have millions of cars that are still not connected, not very digital.
These are the main trends that emerge from the “Dossier on Vehicle Theft”, prepared by LoJack Italia, a company of the CalAmp Group, leader in telematics solutions for the automotive sector and in the recovery of stolen vehicles, which collected and analyzed the data provided by the Ministry of the Interior on 2021 and integrated them with those coming from national and international elaborations and reports on the phenomenon. From a statistical point of view, it must be said that after the significant retreat of the phenomenon in 2020 (the year of the lockdown and in which the restrictions on free movement due to the pandemic were felt more strongly), last year the thefts of vehicles were returned to growth, albeit slightly (+ 2%): from a total of 102,708 cases in 2020 to 104,372.
The growth of the phenomenon concerned in particular the SUV categories and motorcycles / scooters and instead spared heavy vehicles and vans. A growth, albeit slight, which testifies how the criminal organizations, having overcome the contextual difficulties of the months of blockade, have returned to focus strongly on this profitable business.
The annual analysis carried out by LoJack in this edition, in addition to providing an overall overview of the thefts of all motor vehicles, it reports a new interesting data (surveyed by the Ministry of the Interior) concerning the type of crimes committed to steal a vehicle: in 97% of cases behind this crime there is a break-in of the vehicle with theft while it is parked at a safe distance from the rightful owner; in just under 3% of cases it is an embezzlement, most likely perpetrated to the detriment of a company that unknowingly granted it to a criminal; and in less than 1% of cases the vehicle was stolen following a robbery or other crime.