VEHICLE SECURITY

Analysis of DVLA data has shown that while the Ford Fiesta was the UK’ s most stolen car of 2024, Abarth and Lexus owners faced a proportionally far greater chance of becoming the unlucky victim of vehicle theft, with five Lexus models in the top 10 most at-risk. By contrast, Tesla and TVR owners can sleep the most soundly, as their vehicles were the least likely to be taken.

» LAST YEAR, 4,719 FORD FIESTAS were reported stolen to the DVLA, more than twice as many as the next hottest model, the Volkswagen Golf. While Fiesta STs may seem an obvious target, the data reveals that Zetec and Titanium models were actually more likely to go missing.

More Ford vehicles were stolen last year than any other brand, with 9,284 reported thefts during 2024 – 50 % more than second-placed BMW. However, given there are around 4.3 million Ford vehicles on British roads, it’ s perhaps not surprising that they should figure so highly in this rather unfortunate league table.

Abarth and Lexus proportionally most likely to be stolen

Once thefts are assessed as a proportion of the number of each make on our roads, Ford drops to 13th place with a 1-in-460 chance of being nicked. Considered in proportion, it’ s Abarth that tops the chart of the brands most likely to be stolen, with a 1-in-116 chance of falling victim to the crime.

Following closely in second place is Lexus, with the Japanese manufacturer’ s RX450 appearing to be particularly popular with the carpinching fraternity, recording 717 thefts during 2024.

Five Lexus models most at risk

In fact, so prevalent was theft of RX450s that owners faced an incredible 1-in-39 chance of theirs going missing. Worryingly, by assessing the risk of theft at the individual model level, we can see that the top 10 vehicles most at risk of being stolen include five models from

Source: loop analysis of DVLA data

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JUNE 2025

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