The annual NRMA car theft ratings have been announced for 2008 and have been compiled using a host of different statistics including real-world theft figures and the number of anti-theft devices, break-in resistance features and vehicle identity systems installed. An important finding was that by simply adding a $2 self-voiding identification label, car manufacturers could greatly improve theft deterrence.

Stolen cars need to be re-tagged - at least in a few places - with new identification labels to be sold undetected to unwitting buyers. The current aluminium plates used to display the vehicle identification number (VIN) are easily altered or replaced, but a simple $2 self-voiding label system could help make it tougher for stolen vehicles to be re-sold, thereby reducing the motivation to steal the cars in the first place.

That is the reasoning behind a NRMA campaign to implement the labels across all local manufacturers, anyway, and the logic appears to be sound. Carmakers including Hyundai, Audi, Renault and Nissan have already implemented self-voiding tags in several models, making it harder to steal and re-sell even easily broken-into vehicles like the Micra.

Small cars easy theft targets
The NRMA survey rated cars on their ability to deter theft, resist break-in, and avoid ‘rebirthing’, or VIN alteration, based on equipment like immobilisation devices, alarms and the self-voiding labels. All three categories were then taken to yield a composite score out of 120.

Cars like the Citroen C2 and C3 and the Volkswagen Polo Match and TDI models, proved very difficult to break into and steal, but provided no resistance to ‘rebirthing’ the cars with brand-new identities, making them easy for thieves to re-sell.

Falling at the bottom of the rankings were small cars like the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Micra, Holden Barina and Honda Jazz.

Even the top scorers only managed to acquire roughly two-thirds of the 120 available overall points, however, while the bottom finishers racked up less than one-third, with the Honda Jazz acquiring the lowest overall score of all cars in the test at 30.5 points.

Mid-size cars not much better than small cars
Among mid-size cars only the Subaru Liberty scores significantly higher than the small-car best-in-class, earning 102 points. The next best finisher, Citroen’s C5, rates 89.5 points, placing it significantly ahead of the third place Hyundai Sonata V6. At the bottom end of the field rests the Toyota Camry Sportivo, garnering exactly half the available points, followed by the Kia Magentis and Holden Epica at 55.5 and 53.5 points, respectively.

With more room in the price tag for small cost increases to equip better theft-resistance devices and VIN protection than the economy-class small cars, the mid-size cars should be doing much better, but the statistics show they are not.

In fact, the small-medium segment, which houses many of the more premium entries like the BMW 1-series and Audi’s A3 showed what can be done with this segment of vehicle. Both cars scored above 100 points.

Large cars still rate poorly
All of the full-size offerings on the market, including the Ford Falcon, Holden Commodore, Toyota Aurion, Chrysler 300C and Hyundai Grandeur, scored below 76 points. The Hyundai finished at the top of the charts, with the Holden close behind. Ford and Chrysler just edged out Toyota, which finished last with its Aurion scoring just 63 points out of 120.

In the luxury class, Audi took the top four spots with its A4, A6 and A8 models all rating above 105 points. BMW’s 3-series and Lexus’ LS, IS and GS models ranked above 100 points as well. Mercedes, Honda and Nissan filled in the bottom three positions, the E-Class scoring just 70 points, but enough to keep it ahead of the 64.5 points of the Legend and the Maxima’s 60.5 points.

VIN alteration resistance not purely a function of class
The only manufacturers to score perfect 100s in the VIN protection category of the NRMA survey were Subaru and Lotus, which both covered their entire vehicle ranges with a combination of self-voiding labels, microdots and body stampings.

Mercedes’ offerings consistently scored poorly on ID alteration resistance, with the E-Class, R-Class and M-Class all scoring 0 points in the category. Hyundai, on the other hand, placed the Grandeur at the head of the large car class and finished near the top of several other categories, thanks in part to solid 40-point ID-protection scores - a result some might find unexpected given the car’s budget-brand reputation. 

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