Britain’s most stolen cars: We reveal the 100 models targeted most by thieves

Lexus and Abarth owners are being warned to keep a close eye on their motors because their cars are statically most likely to be stolen.

Analysis of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data has discovered which brands and models are typically being targeted most by thieves, based on the volume of thefts per cars registered in Britain.

While Ford’s Fiesta was earlier this year named the nation’s most pinched car based on the 4,719 examples reported stolen in 2024, some 69 other models are statistically more at risk, the new data shows.

This is because with over 1.5million Fiestas on the road, owners statistically have a one-in-312 chance of falling victim to car crime.

The most targeted car, a luxury model from Lexus, however, is statistically far more at threat, with a one-in-30 theft rate based on the number pinched versus total registrations.

In fact, Lexus, along with Fiat’s sporty division Abarth, is one of the brands most commonly targeted by organised car theft gangs going equipped with advanced technology to pinch the latest high-value models.  

Scroll to the bottom of this page to see if you car is in the top 100 most targeted motors – and what proportion of examples on the road were nicked in 2024.

Last year on average, 168 cars were pilfered per day by criminals – that’s seven every hour. 

And new analysis of DVLA records by automotive agency Loop found Abarth is the marque most at risk of being taken by thieves.

One-in-116 Abarths were stolen in 2024, the data shows, with criminals identifying the sporty version of the Fiat 500 one of the key targets to go after last year. One-in-87 registered were stolen last year, according to the report.

But the brand that really came a cropper in 2024 was Lexus.

At brand level, one in every 120 Lexus cars registered in Britain were stolen last year.

But digging deeper into the list of models most at risk proportionally shows that five of the top 10 targeted vehicles were from the Japanese luxury arm of Toyota.

In fact, thefts of the ES 300 premium saloon were so prevalent that owners faced a staggering one-in-30 chance of theirs going missing last year, putting it in first place of models most tempting to car thieves. 

Last year there were 6,587 ES 300s registered, and 221 thefts recorded, Loop found.

And the Japanese brand’s RX 450 didn’t fare much better. 

One in ever 39 examples of the popular SUV were taken in 2024 – that’s 717 thefts out of 27,837 registered examples in Britain.

The other three Lexus models targeted include the LC 500 luxury sports coupe, UX 250 compact SUV and NX 300 mid-sized SUV.

These have a one-in-55, one-in-62 and ine-in-75 chance respectively of being stolen, DVLA data shows. 

This put them sixth, seventh and ninth on the list of 100 most likely to be stolen models.

A Lexus spokesman told This is Money: ‘For the past few years, there has been an industry-wide issue of vehicle theft of almost epidemic proportion in the UK, affecting the most popular models first.

‘Toyota GB has invested millions of pounds in a variety of solutions that help protect cars from theft. These include protective plates, immobilisers, blockers and trackers.

‘As a vehicle manufacturer, we can never completely eliminate the risk of vehicle theft and, in order to further reduce the theft risk, we regularly collaborate and share information with insurance associations, police and law enforcement authorities, theft prevention experts and other key stakeholders around the world. 

‘This enables us to understand new threats and techniques used by thieves and develop more secured systems.’

Lexus tells us that it spent more than £10million last year fitting tracking devices – supplied by Tracker – to some UK-registered vehicles.

‘Unfortunately, some of those customers were targeted by criminals and their cars were stolen,’ the spokesperson explains.

‘As a result of the installation of tracking devices, though, a 96 per cent recovery rate was achieved. 

‘We have subsequently rolled out Tracker installation as an option for buyers of certain models, to help add a level of customer reassurance.’

They added: ‘Our anti-theft measures form part of a nationwide customer care offering. Owners can contact their local dealer to establish whether or not their model would benefit from additional security devices and to discuss options and fitment.’

When it comes to non Lexus models, the Mercedes’ GLS Class is also popular with criminals, with a one-in-39 chance of being nicked – 91 thefts were recorded last year out of 3,584 model. This places it in fourth overall.

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio was the other model sandwiched between the uber-stealable Lexus cars, with the Italian family SUV in fifth place with a one-in-54 chance of being pinched.

The Kia Stinger coupe sits in eight place in the stolen model rankings with a theft proportion rate of of one-in-65.

The Abarth 500 took 10th place with a rating of one-in-87, contributing to its overall brand position as the car maker proportionally most likely to be stolen.

Outside the top 10, Audi had three placings followed by Mercedes with two.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia took 11th with one-in-88 likelihood, followed by Audi’s RS5 in 12th with a one-in-96 chance.

The Audi RS3 and RS7 were the other models from the German marque that ranked in the top 20; the RS3 has a proportional one-in-105 likelihood of being stolen (16th), while the RS7 had a one-in-110 chance (18th).

The Mercedes G-Class (which typically costs over £140,000 new) scored one-in-98 putting it in 14th, while its sibling the GLE Class scored one-in-109 to put it in 17th.

The Kia EV6 was the first of only two EV-only models that ranked in the top 20 cars most likely to be stolen, taking home 13th with a theft rate of one-in-98 registered. 

The Hyundai Ioniq in 15th is the other EV – it also had a one-in-98 chance of going missing.

The Maserati Levante and Abarth 595 (a derivative of the Abarth 500) rounded out the list of 20, both scoring a one-in-111 proportional rating.

Car brands proportionally most likely to be stolen – is your favourite maker a risky purchase?

Overall, behind Abarth and Lexus, Land Rover is the brand most commonly targeted by thieves, with one-in-210 registered cars stolen last term.

The British car maker – now owned by Indian giant Tata – has been the focus of the car theft epidemic for the last few years, but statistically owners are less vulnerable that drivers of cars from its premium rival, Lexus.

It comes after JLR invested a massive £15million upgrading the security systems of some of its older cars in the last 18 months – and also provided £1million in funding to police at ports to tackle illegal vehicle exports out of Britain. 

Alex Kefford, head of editorial at Loop, said: ‘Last year, the spotlight was on Range Rover as customers struggled to find insurance in the face of soaring theft rates. But when we look at the figures in proportion, we discover that it’s Lexus owners that are at a far greater risk of having their car stolen.

‘Jaguar Land Rover has taken the issue very seriously, developing a software update for existing vehicles, rolling-out new ultra-wideband keys, and even going as far as to provide funding to police units dedicated to cracking down on organised gangs. 

‘Now it seems that more brands need to follow their example if they are to reverse this worrying trend.’

In fourth place overall was Mitsubishi – a brand that disappeared from the UK in 2021 – with a one in every 298 cars registered stolen last year, slightly ahead of Jaguar with a one-in-318 theft statistic.

Placed in fifth and sixth for proportional thefts respectively are luxury marques Maserati – with a one-in-325 pinched – and Mercedes, with owners facing a one-in-381 chance of falling victim to car crime.

BMW, Alfa Romeo and Bentley rounded out the top 10, with theft statistics of one-in-381, one-in-388 and one-in-435 respectively.

Contrastingly Ford, despite being the manufacturer that had the most cars stolen overall last year, is 13th based on proportional theft rates against the volume of registrations.

In fact, owners of Ford models will welcome the news that their cars have a risk factor of one-in-460 chance of being nicked.

And as you can see from the top 100 stolen cars (listed below), Ford doesn’t have a single model in the top 50.

The cars least likely to be stolen – the ones to own if you want peace of mind

Tesla owners finally have some good news because the Elon Musk-created electric cars are the least likely to be stolen, Loop’s deep-dive into DVLA data shows.

There is just a one-in-7,031 chance of owners of a Tesla opening their curtains in the morning to find an empty driveway.

Only 33 thefts were reported for the EV brand last year, with the Model 3 recording as many losses as all other models combined.

Once vehicles out of production are included however, Tesla loses the accolade to British brute-manufacturer TVR.

Despite nearly 11,000 registered vehicles scattered across the country, only one was reported stolen during the whole of 2024 – a T350.

Ferraris also fared well, with owners of the luxury Italian supercars only facing a roughly one-in-4,000 chance of a falling victim to car thieves.

Below is the list of 100 cars most likely to be targeted by thieves based on volume of reported stolen models versus the number registered in the UK…