Thieves Like Hyundais, But They Love Dodge Chargers And Challengers More

Owners of Dodge Charger Hellcats from the 2020 to 2022 model years were more than 60 times likelier to have their vehicles stolen than the average vehicle owner. Such was the love for the Charger and the Challenger that thefts of them occurred at a higher rate even than Hyundai and Kia vehicles.

That's according to new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), which looked at insurance theft claims that amounted to roughly the full value of a car.

It found that the Charger SRT Hellcat and Hemi were 61 and 21 times more likely to be stolen than the average vehicle in America, respectively. For the high-performance model, there were 25 whole-vehicle theft claims for every 1,000 insured vehicles in America.

That's an increase as compared to last year, when 18 of these models per 1,000 insured vehicles were stolen. The rise is even more dramatic when compared to two years earlier, when the Infiniti Q60, at the time the vehicle stolen at the highest rate in America, had only two thefts per 1,000 insured vehicles.

Read: Watch Thieves Swipe $130k Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye From Dealer In Under 2 Minutes

Infiniti is still high on the list today, but for the 2020-2022 model years, it's the Q50 that is the third most-stolen vehicle in America, and is eight times more likely to be stolen than the average vehicle. The Dodge Challenger (7.6 times more likely) and the Range Rover (6.1 times) round out the top five.

As has been widely reported, the raw numbers of Hyundai and Kia vehicles stolen over the last year is remarkably high, but since the mass market vehicles are also more widely sold, they appear lower on this list, which tracks theft rates.

On the other end of the spectrum, electric vehicles were well represent on the list of least frequently stolen vehicles in America. The Tesla Model 3 and Y were the two most seldomly stolen vehicles in America for the 2020-2022 model years. The Model X, Model S, and Nissan LEAF were also among the least frequently stolen vehicle in the country.

While advanced safety features like Sentry Mode may help keep these vehicles a little safer, HLDI Senior Vice President Matt Moore suggests that the fact they are often charging in garages or well lit areas at night may be the real reason thieves don't target them.