Illustration of a car theft.

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SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS / SIPA

  • The company Coyote Secure published on Wednesday a study on vehicle theft in 2020, based on its data, those of the Ministry of the Interior and those of the Argos insurance group.

  • In 2020, 121,500 cars and two-wheelers were stolen in France.

    A figure that only drops by 13% compared to 2019, despite the periods of confinement.

  • Thieves are increasingly organized and professional and use new technologies to steal vehicles, especially two-wheelers or SUVs.

One flight every four minutes.

In 2020, 121,500 cars and two-wheelers were stolen in France.

This is (obviously) less than the previous year (-13%), the two periods of confinement having put an end to delinquency.

But this drop could have been much larger.

“We observed a catch-up effect.

September marked a record, with an increase of over 70% compared to the previous year, ”explains Jérôme Arnac, Marketing and Communication Director at Coyote Secure.

The company published on Wednesday a study on vehicle theft in 2020, based on its data, those of the Ministry of the Interior and those of the Argos insurance group.

“Behind car theft, it is often organized sectors that respond to requests, have objectives… We are quite far from theft of opportunity,” continues Jérôme Arnac.

First observation of the study: the regions most affected by vehicle theft are also the most populated.

Between them, Ile-de-France, the Paca region and Hauts-de-France account for more than half of the reported thefts.

If the Paris region is the "first in terms of risk of theft", it is also because the share of stolen two wheels "weighs very heavily", notes Jérôme Arnac, stressing that they are even "more vulnerable" than cars.

According to figures from Coyote Secure, 6% of all motorized two-wheelers were stolen in 2020.

"They no longer leave a trace ..."

Regarding cars, SUVs are the most popular (46% of thefts in 2020), especially those of French brands (67%).

Small city cars are in demand for their spare parts.

The probability of theft is also five times higher for professional vehicles than for private vehicles.

But in recent years, criminals have stopped picking locks.

“They no longer leave a trace,” sums up Jérôme Arnac, who lists various techniques.

“It is possible to replicate or amplify the key signal to open the vehicle without the knowledge of its owner.

Another method: "Thieves can use a jammer.

The owner of the vehicle thinks he has locked his car while driving away, but he is not.

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Once inside, the thief can start the car using a device that he “plugs into the diagnostic socket”.

In 4 out of 10 cases, the vehicle will then be “buried”, that is to say hidden in an underground car park, a box or a container.

Thieves thus prevent it from being located by GPS and take the opportunity to disassemble it discreetly.

“Thieves have learned, over the past ten years, to take shelter from the most classic technologies that are often fitted as standard in recent car models,” notes the marketing and communications director at Coyote Secure, adding that the he company has developed its own technology to quickly find a stolen car.

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