2000 Hondas, Plymouths Tops With Car Thieves

Honda Motor Co.’s Civic car had the highest number of thefts among 2000-model cars and trucks during that year and DaimlerChrysler’s Plymouth Breeze sedan had the worst rate, a U.S. agency said.

The theft rate for all 2000 models was 2.89 per 1,000 vehicles, unchanged from the figure for the previous year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. It ranked 206 models, based on FBI data. DaimlerChrysler had six of the top 10 vehicles by rate.

“Each one of these [Chrysler] vehicles has a modern theft system,” said Mike Rosenau, a spokesman for the Stuttgart, Germany-based auto maker’s U.S. unit. The results are “not because it is easier to steal one of these vehicles.”

None of the top five in total thefts was a truck. The Civic led with 1,807 and was followed by DaimlerChrysler’s Dodge Intrepid, General Motors Corp.’s Pontiac Grand Am, the Dodge Neon and Ford Motor Co.’s Focus. The Grand Am was the 1999 leader.

The Plymouth Breeze led in theft rate, with 11.1 per 1,000. It was followed by two models of Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s Montero sport-utility vehicle, BMW’s X5 sport-utility, and DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Intrepid. The 1999 leader, Honda’s Acura Integra car, fell to 25th.

The other DaimlerChrysler cars in the top 10 were the Dodge Stratus, Dodge Intrepid, Plymouth Neon and Dodge Neon.

The U.S. agency, which published the figures in a report Tuesday in the Federal Register, didn’t comment on why some vehicles are stolen more often or at higher rates than others.

Honda’s 2000 Civic may have led in number of thefts because the model was similar to those of the previous five years, making it a possible target of thieves seeking parts, company spokesman John Watts said.

“We’d expect the theft rate for the 2001 Civic would be down significantly,” because Honda for that model added an immobilizing system that blocks the starting of the engine without a key, he said.