Car thefts fell last year after a four-year stretch of increases during the pandemic.

The 17% decline, according to National Insurance Crime Bureau data, brought thefts below the million mark for the first time since 2021 and was the steepest annual decrease in 40 years, the nonprofit group said.

Hyundais and Kias still dominated the top five stolen models list at Nos. 1, 2 and 5. The South Korean automakers’ 2011 to 2022 models had no standard antitheft technology, though they issued software updates in 2023 after a rash of social media-fueled thefts of the vehicles.

Overall vehicle theft fell to nearly 851,000 after spiking to more than a million in 2023, NICB said.

The most stolen vehicles were the Hyundai Elantra and Sonata at Nos. 1 and 2, followed by the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Honda Accord and Kia Optima, according to the group’s data.

NICB credited collaboration across governments, automakers and itself to prevent and investigate thefts, including theft rings.

“Collectively, these groups used data and intelligence to develop actionable strategies to help local authorities investigate and prosecute offenders and to prevent vehicle theft from occurring in the first place,” said NICB President and CEO David J. Glawe in a press release on 2024 vehicle theft.

The organization works to research and prevent insurance fraud and crime. 

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