In the past year, significantly fewer cars and trucks were stolen in Germany than in 2017. This is clear from figures published by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Accordingly, 16,613 cars disappeared permanently, almost 13 percent less than in the previous year. For lorries, the decline is even more pronounced: by 22.6 percent to 921 vehicles.
According to the BKA, manufacturers VW, BMW, Audi and Mercedes are particularly popular with car thieves. More than 56 percent of the cars advertised for search, which disappeared permanently, had these brands. The share of vehicles of the four manufacturers in the total number of registrations is around 45 percent (read more about this topic here).
Contrary to the general declining trend, more vans were stolen, such as Fiat Ducato, Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter, according to the BKA management report. The thefts of Mercedes Sprintern (Type 906) alone increased by around 22 percent in 2018 year-on-year. (You can find all background information about crime statistics here.)
According to the BKA, there is a high demand for stolen vehicles in Southeastern and Eastern Europe as well as in the Near and Middle East. "The international motor vehicle shift is still dominated by highly qualified, specialized and mostly cooperative groups of offenders," the report said.
