2017 Germany: Most-Frequently Stolen Car Brands and Models

The most-often stolen car brand in Germany in 2017 was Volkswagen while Land Rover was the riskiest brand to own. SUVs are favorites of German car thieves.

In 2017, Volkswagen, Audi and BMW were the car brands most frequently stolen in Germany. However, per number of insured cars, the theft risk was the highest for Land Rover and Porsche owners. The total numbers of car stolen in Germany in 2017 was at a decade low although the cost to insurers increased with cost per claim reaching an all-time high.

Car Theft in Germany in 2017

Car theft in Germany declined in 2017 by almost 4% to 17,493 insured passenger vehicles stolen compared to 18,227 in 2016. In 2017, fewer cars were stolen in Germany than in any year since 2008.

The overall risk of car theft in Germany remains very low at 0.5 per 1,000 insured vehicles. As before, Berlin is the highest risk city with 3.6 thefts per 1000 insured cars followed by Hamburg with 1.9. In Munich, the risk was only 0.3 cars.

Despite the decrease in car theft, the Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft (GDV) – a German insurance industry association – recorded an 8% increase in total damage of nearly €324 million. This was the highest total damage since 1999 when almost 49,000 cars were stolen in Germany.

The cost of an average car theft claim in Germany increased by 13% to a new record €18,500 in 2017. This is largely due to the popularity of large SUVs and larger limousines with car thieves – owners of smaller cars generally have a much lower risk of being a victim of car theft in Germany.

In recent years, car theft in Germany was as follows:

	Cars Stolen	Total Cost in € million	Cars Stolen Per 1000 Insured
2017	17,493	323.7	0.5
2016	18,227	299.2	0.5
2015	18,659	291.3	0.5
2014	17,895	262	0.5
2013	18,805	263.9	0.5
2012	18,063	242.2	0.5
2011	19,658	259.6	0.6
2010	19,503	257.2	0.6
2009	18,215	219	0.5
2008	16,134	175.7	0.5
2007	16,502	178.3	0.5
2006	18,965	211.4	0.6
2005	23,771	253
2004	28,674	284
2003	31,707	293
2002	34,775	300.9	1.1
2001	37,549	308
2000	42,560	316
1999	48,742	333
1998	58,646	378
1997	65,861	427
1996	76,392	497
1995	89,254	589
1994	105,248	769
1993	105,543	800	3.6
1990	40,079	261	West Germany
1985	34,511	153	West Germany

Note: GDV statistics include only cars insured against theft. Actual numbers are slightly higher especially for less valuable vehicles with compulsory third-party insurance only.

Car Brands Most Frequently Stolen in Germany in 2017

According to the GDV, the following were the brands most often stolen in Germany in 2017:

	Brand	in 2017	in 2016	in 2015	% Change 17/16
1	Volkswagen	3,606	4,429	5,032	-18.6
2	Audi	3,047	3,245	3,192	-6.1
3	BMW (incl. Mini)	2,602	2,688	2,760	-3.2
4	Mercedes	1,737	1,376	1,223	26.2
5	Mazda	878	817	611	7.5
6	Toyota	735	664	650	10.7
7	Ford	709	621	623	14.2
8	Opel	474	482	549	-1.7
9	Skoda	461	547	634	-15.7
10	Renault (incl. Dacia)	340	453	432	-24.9
11	Porsche	340	405	221	-16.0
12	Nissan	335	169	126	98.2
13	Honda	222	233	241	-4.7
14	Peugeot	195	218	230	-10.6
15	Seat	189	180	201	-23.2
16	Citroen	189	246	229	5.0
17	Hyundai	177	139	118	27.3
18	Mitsubishi	172	196	190	-12.2
19	Land Rover	162	162	380	– .0
20	Fiat	156	162	177	-20.4
	Source: GDV

There little changes in the favorite brands for car thieves in Germany in 2017 compared to recent years. Volkswagen remained the most-often stolen car brand, which is not surprising given VWs around 20% share of the German new car market. However, the number of Volkswagens stolen was sharply down and the overall risk of theft for VW owners remained relatively low.

While fewer Audis and BMW were stolen in Germany in 2017, the number of Mercedes-Benz cars stolen increased by a quarter. However, Mercedes-Benz cars remained clearly less popular with car thieves than vehicles from its premium brand competitors. Mercedes-Benz cars are the second most-common car brand in Germany.

The only rank order change in the top ten was that Skoda was less popular than Opel with car thieves in Germany in 2017. Porsche joined Renault as the tenth most-popular brand with thieves but no doubt at much higher expense to the owners (and insurers).

The number of cars stolen for other marques was relatively low. The number of Nissans stolen in Germany in 2017 doubled while Fiat was even less popular with thieves than previously.

Most-Risky Car Brands for Theft in Germany in 2017

The risk of a car being stolen per thousand insured cars in Germany in 2017 were as follow per brand:

	Brand	2017	2016	2015	2014
1	Land Rover	1.9	2.1	5.2	4.5
2	Porsche	1.6	2	1.2	0.9
3	Audi	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.2
4	Mazda	1.2	1.2	0.9	0.5
5	BMW	0.9	0.9	1	0.9
7	Honda	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.8
6	Toyota	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.7
8	VW	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.7
11	Mitsubishi	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
9	Mercedes	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.3
14	Citroen	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.3
13	Skoda	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.5
15	Renault	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.2
10	Nissan	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.2
12	Ford	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2
19	Fiat	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
16	Peugeot	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
17	Seat	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3
18	Hyundai	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1
20	Opel	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1

The risk of car theft per brand relative to the number of cars of a marque on German roads was largely unchanged from previous years. Despite only 162 cars stolen, Land Rover was the riskiest brand to own in Germany for car theft for the fifth consecutive year. However, the risk of a Land Rover being stolen in Germany in 2017 came down to 1.9 per 1,000 insured cars from a high 5.2 in 2015.

Porsche, Audi, Mazda and BMW were at the same positions as a year ago while Honda and Toyota swapper positions but the numbers remained relatively small. VW was again at position eight for risk while Mercedes moved up one position.

Nissan entered the top ten list after theft of Nissan cars in Germany doubled in 2017 compared to a year ago.

For the fourth consecutive year Opel was only the 20th risky car brand to own for theft in Germany in 2017.

Top-Ten List of Riskiest Car Models for Theft in Germany in 2017

The riskiest car models in Germany for theft per 1,000 of the car model insured in 2017 were:

	Brand	Model	2017	2017: €/Claim
1	Audi	Q7 3.0 TDI	15.3	34,712
2	Mercedes-Benz	ML 63 AMG	15.1	85,924
3	Mazda	CX-5 2.2 D AWD	14.6	26,374
4	Land Rover	Range Rover 3.0 TD	13.2	44,658
5	Toyota	RAV4 Hybrid 2.5	12.7	32,866
6	BMW	X5 M5OD	10.9	58,966
7	Mercedes-Benz	S350 CDI	10.6	56,314
8	Toyota	Prius+ Hybrid 1.8	8.9	21,752
9	Nissan	Infinity FX37	8.9	32,976
10	BMW	730D	8.5	67,375

Unfortunately, due to the way German car insurance rates work, the models are very specific according to the official Typ, which might place very similar models and different years in separate groups. The Audi Q7 for example appears twice on the top 50 list and the Mazda CX-5 three times! – list (in German) of the top 50 models.

The list thus does not help much in trying to determine the most popular model with car thieves – although there are no Golfs on the list, it may well lead the table due to the ubiquitous presence of the car on German roads. The Golf has been the top-selling car model in Germany uninterrupted since 1981.