Audi S8 Tops the List Manual

An Audi S8 is a rare sight indeed in the U.S.A. Yet the A8 range-topper is also on top of the list in NHTSA's recently published theft report for 2009. As they say, there are lies, greater lies, and statistics: the S8's number one position is somewhat misleading, however, since only two of the 227 cars that were sold that year were actually stolen. Statistically, though, this figure represents a theft rate of 8.8106 per 1,000 vehicles sold. The same applies to Ford's Shelby GT, which with five thefts among 581 cars is 2009's second favorite among car thieves. Overall, 2009's most-stolen car is also that year's best-seller, the Toyota Camry, with 781 thefts reported. NHTSA's report shows that the car theft rate in the U.S. is declining: according to the agency's data, the theft rate in 2009 was 1.33 vehicles stolen for every 1,000 produced which represents a 21.3% drop from 2008's figure of 1.69 – and is almost three times lower than 1992's 3.98 rate.