£39.4m vehicles recovered in 2023! Theft recovery rate rises again, as Global Telemetrics see an increase in their end of year figures. 

Throughout 2023, Global Telemetrics were responsible for the recovery of £39.4m worth of vehicles reported as stolen, surpassing 2022’s figure of £36.8m. 

Most Recovered Vehicles

Since 2015, one vehicle has dominated the most recovered vehicles list, 2023 was no different as Land Rover once again takes the spot for most recovered vehicle during 2023, 22% of all vehicles recovered this year were a Range Rover Sport, other models stolen throughout the year included the Discovery, Vogue, Evoque, Velar and Defender.

In second place this year is models of Mercedes, the most of which was the Sprinter, highlighting a high number of van thefts throughout the year as shown with appearances from the Ford Transit, Peugeot Boxer and Volkswagen Caddy further down the list. 

Motorhomes retain their position from last years top 10 once again appearing 3rd in our list, last year Global Telemetrics released a short film highlighting motorhome theft which can be viewed below

New to the top 10 this year taking the 6th spot is Lexus which we have seen stolen consistently throughout the year. Other new entries include Peugeot and Jaguar. There are returns for Ford in 4th, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen. 

2023s Top Ten Recovered Vehicles

How were vehicles stolen in 2023?

The majority of vehicles stolen in 2023 recovered by Global Telemetrics were stolen via keyless theft. Commonly known as ‘Relay Theft’, thieves use a device to pick up the signal of the car key, extending your car key’s signal towards the vehicle, fooling the vehicle into thinking the key is close by, allowing entry and then theft. During 2023, 68% of all recoveries were after keyless theft. 7% of recoveries this year were due to robbery, house break-ins with vehicles being stolen saw a surge during the latter stages of the year. 

Where were vehicles being stolen in 2023?

Our two main cities have once again been the prominent locations for recoveries during 2023, London with 29% of all recoveries leads the way, Kennsington & Chelsea Borough and Enfield Borough top the list within London. The West Midlands is in second place with 16% of all recoveries, South Yorkshire sits in third with 8% of all recoveries. Essex and Lancashire complete the top 5. 

The top 5 in full are:

1. London
2. West Midlands 
3. South Yorkshire 
4. Essex
5. Lancashire

Where are vehicles stolen from? Our data shows, 70% of vehicles are taken from home addresses, 7% are stolen from other residential addresses and 6% from public car parks. Other locations included workplaces, dealerships, during deliveries and storage units

Quickest Recovery for 2023

Global Telemetrics are fortunate to work alongside the country’s longest running Auto-Crime Investigation Repatriations Team who work alongside police to ensure quick and safe recoveries. This produces fantastic results when it comes to the speed of vehicles being recovered. In 2023, on 2 occasions we recovered stolen vehicles for our customers in just 6 minutes. The first in February with a Broadway Autosleeper and again in October when a Range Rover Vogue was stolen for the second time in the space of 18 months.

What to look out for in 2024

Land Rovers have been big news during 2023 regarding the amount of their models that have been stolen and the insurance premium woes that have followed that news. To combat this Jaguar Land Rover have issued an update which they claim will stop relay theft on their vehicles. During 2024 it will be interesting to see what effect this has on the amount of stolen JLR vehicles resulting in hopefully a lot less stolen vehicles for customers.

Global Telemetrics will once again throughout the year document our recoveries and interesting theft case studies as well as introducing new features including; myths around thefts, answering common questions, events we attend and supercars that visit our office. The first event being the NEC Caravan and Motorhome Show during February which will once again be a part of with our friends at Motorguard. This will see the start of the caravan and motorhome season for 2024, where buyers will be considering their accessory requirements for the season ahead. With motorhomes once again appearing in our top 10 for 2024, now is a good time to consider additional security with our SmarTrack Trident tracking device which can help recover your vehicle in the event of a theft or our S5+ iMOB which can prevent theft by immobilising your vehicle via our Driver Detection Cards. Find out more here.