U.S. automakers are beating their foreign rivals again, though probably not in the way they'd want to.
For the first time since 2002, car thieves preferred to target American models rather than foreign. That is the result from tallying the National Insurance Crime Bureau's annual list of the most-stolen vehicles of 2010.
Nationally, the most frequently stolen car model was the 1994 Honda Accord — the champ from 2009 and 2008 also.
Broken down by automaker, Ford had three spots in the top 10, Dodge two and Chevrolet one. The remaining four spots were held by Honda, Toyota and Acura. The report noted, though, that the top three spots on the list continued to be Japanese models. That trend has held since 2000.
The good news is car and truck thefts continued to decline, the report said. If the preliminary FBI statistics used in the study match up with the bureau's final tally, 2010 will have seen the fewest vehicle thefts since 1967.
The NICB said the decline in overall thefts was in large part due to improvements in technology, noting that of the close to 52,000 Accords stolen in 2010, more than 44,000 were from model years in the 1990s.
Of course the national average was just that, an average. In Wyoming, the most-stolen vehicle was the Dodge Ram, and the Accord didn't even make that state's top 10. The Ram didn't place in New York state top 10, but the Jeep Grand Cherokee cracked the list.
The list of most-stolen vehicles nationally for 2010:
- 1994 Honda Accord
- 1995 Honda Civic
- 1991 Toyota Camry
- 1999 Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size)
- 1997 Ford F150 Series/Pickup
- 2004 Dodge Ram
- 2000 Dodge Caravan
- 1994 Acura Integra
- 2002 Ford Explorer
- 1999 Ford Taurus
To read a breakdown of the study state-by-state and to read the entire report, go to the NICB's Hot Wheels web site.