According to the
National Insurance Crime Bureau's just-released "Hot Wheels" list,
which examines annual vehicle-theft data submitted by law-enforcement agencies
across the country to the National Crime Information Center to determine the
makes and models most-frequently reported stolen during the previous year.
As usual Honda Accords
and Civics by far were the most-stolen vehicles in 2012, totaling 58,596 and
47,037, respectively, with full-size Ford pickups coming in a distant third
with 26,770 thefts. Older Accords and Civics eclipsed newer Hondas in theft
frequency, which NICB attributes to improved anti-theft technology. Most of the
makes and models return from the previous list; the only newcomers were the Nissan
Altima (No. 9) and Nissan Maxima (No. 10), knocking the Ford Explorer and
Nissan Sentra off this year's roster.
