April insights: Recoveries, trends and tips from
Global Telemetrics
July brought the heat once again, and while many of us were looking for shade, thieves were still trying their luck. Thankfully our team doesn’t take summer holidays! In July, they recovered £1.6 million worth of stolen vehicles, bringing the total recovery value over the 20-year history of SmarTrack tracking systems to more than £229 million.
July Recovery Highlights
Most recovered vehicles: July saw Mercedes becoming the most targeted vehicle type, with the X-Class being of particular interest. G 63s and Actros models were also on the hot list. July also saw a notable increase in thefts of Porsche Macan.
Other vehicles recovered included:
- BMW including 340D and M4
- Toyota including Hilux and Land Cruisers
- Fiat Ducato based motorhome and Chassuan Titaniums
- Ford Transits
- John Deere Gators
- Land Rover including Discovery, Defender and various variants of Range Rover
- Dodge Durango
- Rolls Royce Cullinan
- MG ZS
- Volvo XC90
Quickest recovery
If a vehicle should move without one of these detection methods present, an alert will be generated to our Secure Control Centre which leads them to contact the owner to see if everything is ok. This is exactly what happened early July, shortly after midnight. Our customer was in bed when their Mercedes X350D was moved from their driveway. Our Secure Control Centre contacted them to check everything was ok and at this point they realised the vehicle had indeed been stolen. We asked the customer to obtain a crime reference number whilst preparing our Repatriation Team. Just 18 minutes after the initial alert call, our team worked alongside the police to successfully recover the vehicle from a local car park, ready for the customer to collect.
If you’re off on a summer holiday, be careful what you share online!
We have shared this reminder before, and with holiday season now in full swing, it is worth repeating. When the kids are off, bags are packed and airport or poolside photos start appearing online, it can be easy to forget that public posts may show your home is empty. Sharing holiday snaps is part of the fun but be careful about what you share and where you share it. Your neighbour might be jealous, but a local thief might think they are onto a winner!
London leads the way – again!
As the largest city in the country, it will come as no surprise that London once again leads the way when it comes to locations where vehicles are stolen. Wandsworth was the most targeted borough this month, with the West Midlands and West Yorkshire ranking second and third respectively.
Saving companies big outlays
As well as private owners, SmarTrack devices are fitted to several company vehicles which help protect companies from theft, fraud and misuse of vehicles. Our highest-value recovery this month was a Rolls Royce Cullinan, reported stolen by one of the rental companies we provide trackers for after the customer failed to return the vehicle. Our team were able to track down and recover the asset, helping ensure the company did not lose a valuable part of their fleet.
Want to send your car down a runway?
As in previous years, we are proud to once again sponsor the Yiannimize Leicester Motor Show, taking place on 22 and 23 August at Leicester Airport (LE2 2FG). Featuring stalls, a funfair, helicopter rides, runway runs and more we will be there both days talking all things vehicle security. You can register for free tickets as well as a few paid options here
