Wednesday August 20, 11:58 pm ET
DETROIT, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The Cadillac Escalade, the sport utility vehicle made popular by rap stars and athletes, also has a big following among car thieves.
The large General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - News) SUV had the highest rate of theft claims among U.S. vehicles over the past three model years, according to a study released on Thursday by a U.S. auto safety research organization funded by car insurance companies.
The Escalade had 10.3 theft claims per 1,000 vehicles over a year, compared with an average of 2.6, said Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice president with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which conducted the study.
The extra equipment many people put on their Escalades, such as expensive aluminum wheels and multi-screen DVD players, may be the reasons why the SUVs are targeted by thieves, Hazelbaker said.
The Dodge Stratus, from DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE
CX - News; XETRA
CXGn.DE - News), ranked second, followed by the Mitsubishi Mirage (Tokyo:7211.T - News), the Jeep Wrangler and the Lincoln Navigator (NYSE:F - News).
The Escalade topped the list despite being equipped with an anti-theft ignition immobilizer, which automatically disables the engine, and GM's OnStar communications service. GM has run advertisements of OnStar operators helping police locate a stolen vehicle.
However, the Escalade also had the highest average insurance charge to cover theft losses, a rate of $167, more than double the next highest rate of $75 for the Chevrolet Corvette and far above the $15 average.
"We don't know whether this is a case where thieves are ahead of the curve," in figuring out how to defeat OnStar, Hazelbaker said.
The study also found that about two of every 1,000 of 2002 model year vehicles in the United States are stolen, down significantly from about 15 in 1980, but flat with results for the past few years.
The average claim resulting from theft totaled about $5,600 for 2002 model year cars and trucks, about the same as the past few years, Hazelbaker said.