The Proton Wira has been the car that thieves in Malaysia “love” the most for the past 11 years, according to the Malaysian Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (VTREC), which compiles an annual list of the most stolen vehicles in the country based on insurance claims.
The Star quoted VTREC coordinator Mas Tina Abdul Hamid as saying 131 Wiras in total were reported stolen in 2021. This was followed by Iswara in second place, with 75 reported cases, and Perodua Kancil in third place.
“There are stolen Mercedes-Benz cars being sold for as low as RM10,000 (US$2,333), or a Hilux for RM12,000(US$2,800), and Wira for only RM3,000(US$700). The Wira was a popular car back then, and there are still quite a number on the road even though production stopped in 2009,” said Mas Tina, who added that thieves are the most common suppliers of Wira spare parts.
Mas Tina said that car thieves frequently target older and more well-known car models and predicted that the Myvi would quickly become a favorite.
“The pattern is nearly identical [to the Wira]. We now have a large number of Myvis on the road [and they may be the target once production ceases],” she explained.
It was also stated that the majority of stolen local vehicles were sold domestically and that the recent shortage of vehicle spare parts due to supply chain issues and the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the problem.
Stepping away from cars, data showed that one Yamaha 135LC is stolen every day, making it the most stolen motorcycle model in 2021. The Yamaha Y15ZR came in second place with 186 reported cases, followed by the Honda C100 in third with 151 cases.
“Normally, thieves will target the latest model, strip it, and sell the parts. They also sell the Yamaha 125Z for RM1,500, Yamaha 135LC for RM500, and Honda EX5 and Honda Wave for RM300 each,” Mas Tina said.
“Customers who agree to their offers will deposit money into the account belonging to the syndicate before the stolen vehicles or components are sent to them using registered parcel service,” she added. “They have different people to steal and different groups to bring it to Thailand. Somebody else will sell them,” she said, explaining the authorities’ struggle to put the brakes on the syndicates.
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