(August 3, 2010) The government is pushing small fuel-efficient cars, but apparantly thieves are still more interested in big vehicles and big engines.

Based on insurance claims the 2007-09 Cadillac Escalade, a luxury SUV, followed by the Ford F-250 crew pickup, Infiniti G37 luxury car, and Dodge Charger with a HEMI engine are the most stolen vehicles in the U.S.

Theft rates for these vehicles are 3 to 5 times as high as the average for all vehicles. These are the latest theft loss results for passenger vehicles one to three years old published by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

"Sedate family cars and fuel sippers aren't on the hot list," says Kim Hazelbaker, HLDI senior vice president. "Thieves are after chrome, horsepower, and HEMIs."

Overall theft losses take into account not only the rate at which insurance claims are filed but also the size of the payments for claims, and most of the vehicles with the highest overall theft losses are SUVs and large pickups. The Escalade has ranked worst in overall theft losses in 6 of the past 7 HLDI reports. In fact, all 4 versions of the Escalade head the list of the worst overall losses for theft, with average yearly losses more than 7 times the average for all passenger vehicles.

On the other hand, among the least stolen cars are a couple of small fuel sippers, the Toyota Prius, Mini Cooper.

The Volvo S80, a large luxury car, leads the best list with overall losses equal to 4 percent of the average for all passenger vehicles. Next best are the Saturn VUE 4-wheel-drive midsize SUV and Nissan Murano midsize SUV. 

New to the worst list: The Chevrolet Corvette Z06, a high-performance midsize sports car, isn't stolen nearly as often as the other vehicles on the worst list, but claims are expensive when the Z06 does go missing. The average size of an insurance claim payment is $41,229. This compares with $10,118 for a Dodge Charger with a HEMI engine, a large family car that makes the worst list mainly because of how often it’s stolen.

Pickups are a group to watch: "In many cases it’s tough to pinpoint exactly why a vehicle becomes a theft target," Hazelbaker says. “Investigators tell us big work trucks like the Ford F-250/350, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and Dodge Ram 2500 are attractive not only because of the vehicles themselves but also because of the tools and cargo they carry."

HLDI results take into account theft of a vehicle and also vehicle content. Overall theft losses for pickup trucks climbed steadily between 1999 and 2006 as the US economy boomed but now are decreasing. Still, as a group these vehicles have losses that are at least twice those of cars and SUVs.