Car theft in India spikes, Maruti WagonR tops list of most stolen cars: Report

Car theft in India has increased more than two times in 2023 compared to the previous year with Delhi topping the list of cities with most number of stolen cars.

A vehicle theft report released by Acko, one of India’s private vehicle insurance companies, said bikes among two-wheelers are the most stolen model. It also said that motorcycles in India are stolen more than nine times compared to four-wheelers. Delhi, the national capital, emerged on top as city with highest number of vehicles stolen.

According to the vehicle theft report for 2023, Maruti Suzuki’s WagonR hatchback is the most stolen car across India. Swift, another of Maruti’s best-selling models besides the WagonR, comes close second among cars mostly stolen last year. In fact, the survey claims that 47 per cent of all cars stolen in India are sold by Maruti Suzuki. While WagonR and Swift are the two most preferred cars for thieves, they are closely followed by HyundaiCreta, Grand i10 and Maruti’s Dzire as the next most preferred vehicle for theft.

Delhi tops the list of cities where most car thefts happen in India. The analysis quoted reports that one vehicle is stolen every 14 minutes in the national capital. The city’s share of car theft is 37 per cent of overall cases recorded in India in 2023. Bhajanpura and Uttam Nagar remain two of the most car theft-prone areas in the city besides Shahdara, Patparganj and Badarpur.

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Bike theft in India has also increased alarmingly last year. According to the report, there was more than nine times increase in motorcycle thefts in India compared to cars. Hero Splendor emerged as India’s most stolen bike. Honda Activa and Royal Enfield Classic 350 are also among three of the most stolen bikes in India. The report quoted Gurugram Police saying that six out of 10 bikes stolen in the city are Hero Splendor, Splendor Plus, Hero CD Deluxe and Hero HF Deluxe. According to police, high resale value and demand for spare parts of these bikes are the reason behind high number of theft cases.