German brands more secure

Thieves deterred by the products of German marques — or Jaguar — but not Aussie-built cars games

The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC) has named the cars least susceptible to theft in this country.

Winners for 2012 were jointly announced by the NMVTRC chairman, David Morgan and the NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Michael Gallacher.

“Experience has shown that the level of secure design applied in the manufacturing process is the single most important factor in determining the theft rate of a particular model,” said Morgan.

Engineering experts evaluated over 70 current models at NRMA Insurance's research centre in Sydney to arrive at the list of winners. Judging criteria for the six categories was based on each car's respective performance against its peers. Every entrant was assessed on the ease of identification and the security of its entry systems and the engine immobiliser. Entry systems comprise door, ignition locks, alarms, rear seat/boot access and glazing, while vehicle identification includes body stamping, security labeling and microdotting.

Across the categories, the one non-German brand that trumped its rivals was Jaguar, with the XF (XFR pictured) winning the large-car category. Another prestige brand, BMW, won the Coupe/Convertible category with two models that tied for first place: the 1 Series and the 3 Series.

In the medium car category, Audi's A4 shared the honours with the Volkswagen Passat. The one brand to win in multiple categories, Volkswagen counted Polo (small cars), Golf (small/medium) and Tiguan (SUV) — as well as the Passat, of course.

“While there are some luxury vehicles amongst the winners, the inclusion of the many affordable cars, with the Polo starting at around $20,000 clearly demonstrates that good security is within reach of everyday motorists and that other manufacturers should be aspiring to matching these levels of design,” said Morgan.

The NMVTRC chairman had a salvo to serve local manufacturers and importers of people movers and commercial vehicles. In the case of the people mover and commercial vehicle categories, the Council was unprepared to award a winner, since none of the respective candidate vehicles came close to the level of security offered by winners in the other categories.

As for the locals, Morgan said that the three companies concerned needed to “lift their game in relation to vehicle identification technology. Improved vehicle identification is essential to combating profit-motivated thieves who launder stolen vehicles by manipulating the vehicle's identifiers, or break the vehicle down to separated parts for sale on the black market.”

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