NICB: Car Thieves Get No Charge from Toyota Prius

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Nov 21, 2012, 06:00 ET

Hybrid Popular With Consumers; Not With Thieves

DES PLAINES, Ill., Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today released a comprehensive report that examines the theft history of the Toyota Prius. From its introduction to the U.S. auto market in 2000 through June 30, 2012, the report covers all Prius thefts reported to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) beginning with the very first Prius theft on September 4, 2000.

The Toyota Prius is the top selling hybrid electric vehicle in the U.S. With over 1.2 million sold in the U.S. as of April 2012, it makes up half of all the hybrids on the road. Yet, despite its growing popularity, an analysis of Prius theft data from NCIC shows that they have both an exceptionally low theft rate and a markedly high recovery rate.

A comparison of theft rates by model years showed that the 2008-2010 Toyota Prii[1] had a much lower theft rate (one in 606 vehicles reported stolen) than the average for all 2008-2010 models (one in 78 vehicles reported stolen).

There have been 2,439 Toyota Prii reported stolen in the U.S. between Sept. 4, 2000 and June 30, 2012. There has been a general increase each year in the number of Prius thefts with the exception of 2009, which had a drop from the year before. It also appears that 2012 is also on track to have fewer Prius thefts than occurred in 2011.

The top five states for Prius thefts in descending order were California (1,062), Florida (127), New York (111), Washington (92), and Texas (89).

The full report is available here.

Anyone with information concerning vehicle theft and insurance fraud can report it anonymously by calling toll-free 1-800-TEL-NICB (1-800-835-6422), texting keyword "fraud" to TIP411 (847411) or by visiting our Web site at www.nicb.org. Or, iPhone or iPad users can download the NICB Fraud Tips app to make it easy to quickly send a tip and get a response.

About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness. The NICB is supported by more than 1,100 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote over $319 billion in insurance premiums in 2010, or approximately 80 percent of the nation's property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 94 percent ($152 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more visit www.nicb.org.

[1] Prii is the plural form of Prius chosen by Toyota.

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SOURCE National Insurance Crime Bureau