Theft frequencies and environmental abundances are compared using Kendall's τ, a generalized correlation coefficient that measures the similarity of ranked order lists.
Behind the Numbers To generate lists of the most- and least-stolen cars, the IIHS annually reviews insurance-claim reports to determine theft-frequency rates based on the number of claims filed for every 1,000 vehicles insured each year.
The E Class, Buick Rainer and Subaru Forester have the lowest theft-claim frequency reports.
The 2007 Cadillac Escalade ESV, a full-size luxury SUV, has the highest theft-claim frequency of any vehicle by a long shot.
It's 15 times more likely to end up in the hands of thieves than the least-stolen car, the luxurious Mercedes E Class sedan, according to the theft-claim frequency report for 2005-07 model year cars, SUVs and light trucks, produced by the Highway Loss Data Institute (an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety).
While the Escalade is the most coveted among thieves, the Hummer H2 and the Hummer H2 SUT (a sport utility truck with a small pickup bed in the rear compartment), are also highly desirable and among the top 10 vehicles with the highest theft claim frequencies.
The higher the fraction of unmarried men in a population, the greater the frequency of theft, fraud, rape, and murder".
Although the total number is small at 1,090 claims, the insurance bureau said the frequency of thefts probably is underreported because of the way that the industry collects and labels the data.
The annual FTC report on fraud and identity theft analyzes data on the frequency of these crimes from 2009.
A comparison of theft and density rank order frequencies shows a significant positive relationship (Kendall's τ b = 0.491, p < 0.001) (Figure 2).
