BMW X5 revealed as UK's most stolen car

The BMW X5 has won the dubious crown of being the most commonly stolen car in the UK for the sixth year in a row, according to statistics by a vehicle tracking and recovery firm.

Tracker, which fits tracking devices to upmarket vehicles to help police retrieve stolen cars, said that BMW models have dominated the top ten list of the most widely stolen cars, but 2014 also saw an increase in the range of Mercedes and Jaguar Land Rover marques being stolen and recovered.

Last year saw an increased demand for 4x4s, with the Range Rover Sport jumping four places to third in the list and the Land Rover Discovery making a new entry at number five.

Meanwhile, criminals appear to be moving away from sports cars, with the Porsche 911 dropping out of the top ten completely.

Andy Barrs, head of police liaison at Tracker, commented

“The 2014 figures illustrate that prestige models continue to catch the eye of thieves, but the average value of stolen cars we recovered was just £25,600, suggesting that older models of prestige cars could be just as attractive to criminals as newer models.

“Interestingly, the number of vehicles that are being stolen without keys has steadily risen over the last few years, accounting for 43% in 2014. We believe this is down to the growth in car hacking where criminals target keyless vehicles by bypassing their security systems, using technology they’ve bought on the internet.

“Indeed, experts, such as Thatcham Research have warned that as keyless security systems become commonplace in cars, the skills to bypass these will be widely practised by most criminals and in turn, lower value keyless vehicles will be equally at risk. We recommend that car owners invest in an added layer of security by using tracking devices that harness the latest technology.”