No. 6 on the world’s top car theft list

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is said to be ranked as one of the top 10 countries in the world with the highest number of vehicle thefts.

An average of 60 vehicles get stolen everyday from all over the country, said the General Insurance Association of Malaysia’s (PIAM) chief executive officer Mark Lim.

He said for the first half of 2016, the industry incurred claims amounting to RM2.41bil.

“This equates to a staggering RM13.2mil per day payout in motor claims for property damage, bodily injury and vehicle theft,” he added.

The nation, he said, ranked among the top 10 countries in the world for vehicle thefts, although there had been a drop in cases for the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year.

“The total number of stolen vehicles for all classes in the first half of this year was 11,796 vehicles compared with 12,412 for the same period in 2015.

“This represents a 5% reduction in the number of vehicle thefts,” Lim said when releasing the industry’s half-year report here yesterday.

According to reports, Malaysia was ranked sixth globally for auto theft last year.

In the first quarter of 2015, a total of 4,539 private vehicles, 7,122 motorcycles and 751 commercial vehicles were reported stolen by the Vehicle Theft Reduction Council of Malaysia (Vtrec).

A total of 4,472 private vehicles, 6,502 motorcycles and 821 commercial vehicles were stolen during the same period this year.

Among the top 10 car models preferred by car thieves in 2014 were the Proton Wira (1,268), Toyota Hilux (762), Proton Iswara (717), Proton Waja (694), Perodua Kancil (638), Perodua Myvi (477), Proton Saga (414), Proton Satria (273), Toyota Vios (252) and Proton Perdana (243).

In 2015, the top 10 cars stolen were the Proton Wira (1,214), Toyota Hilux (595), Proton Iswara (552), Perodua Kancil (550), Proton Waja (538), Perodua Myvi (379), Proton Saga (318), Proton Satria (238), Nissan Vanette (208) and Honda Civic (200).

PIAM chairman Antony Lee said the general insurance industry recorded a moderate growth rate of 3% for the first six months of this year, with gross written premiums of RM9.34bil compared to RM9.07 for the same period last year.