The desire for a stolen Toyota Hilux, Subaru Legacy and Subaru Impreza shows no signs of diminishing, with at least two reported stolen every day around New Zealand.

Analysis of police data by financial comparison website MoneyHub.co.nz confirms Canterbury is the stolen car hotspot of the country, with more than 800 vehicles reported stolen in the last six months of 2018.

“Thieves had different preferences around the region.  Auckland thieves lusted after the Mazda Familia more than any other car,” senior researcher Christopher Walsh said.

“But in Waikato, the Ford Falcon was the most stolen car, and in Southland and Otago, thieves preferred the Honda Civic. In Wellington, Mitsubishi Lancer was most favoured, while the Toyota Hilux was popular with thieves all over the country, especially those in Canterbury, Bay of Plenty and Northland.

“We’ve seen some interesting data points. Despite over half of all the reported thefts of Subaru Legacy models being from within Canterbury, thieves there still preferred the Toyota Hilux, with 68 stolen there in a mere six months.

“If you own a Toyota Hilux, Subaru Impreza or Subaru Legacy, you could pay a lot more for car insurance than for less 'in demand' models by thieves. But many models continue to be in demand by thieves, and until now, there wasn’t a definite list of which models were most susceptible to being stolen.”

He said Otago and Southland had the fewest stolen cars per capita and Canterbury, Northland and Counties/Manakau were the riskiest for car owners.