05-3987. Preliminary Theft Data; Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard

AGENCY:

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation.

ACTION:

Publication of preliminary theft data; request for comments.

SUMMARY:

This document requests comments on data about passenger motor vehicle thefts that occurred in calendar year (CY) 2003 including theft rates for existing passenger motor vehicle lines manufactured in model year (MY) 2003. The preliminary theft data indicate that the vehicle theft rate for CY/MY 2003 vehicles (1.84 thefts per thousand vehicles) decreased by 26.1 percent from the theft rate for CY/MY 2002 vehicles (2.49 thefts per thousand vehicles).

Publication of these data fulfills NHTSA's statutory obligation to periodically obtain accurate and timely theft data, and publish the information for review and comment.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before May 2, 2005.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments [identified by DOT Docket No. NHTSA-2005-20278 and or RIN number 2127-AJ53] by any of the following methods:

• Web site: http://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
• Fax: [phone].
• Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-001.
• Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.

Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and docket number or Regulatory Identification Number (RIN) for this rulemaking. For detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the Public Participation heading of the Supplementary Information section of this document. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to http://dms.dot.gov including any personal information provided. Please see the Privacy Act heading under Regulatory Notices.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time or to Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Deborah Mazyck, Office of International Policy, Fuel Economy and Consumer Programs, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Ms. Mazyck's telephone number is [phone]. Her fax number is [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

NHTSA administers a program for reducing motor vehicle theft. The central feature of this program is the Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard, 49 CFR part 541. The standard specifies performance requirements for inscribing or affixing vehicle identification numbers (VINs) onto certain major original equipment and replacement parts of high-theft lines of passenger motor vehicles.

The agency is required by 49 U.S.C. 33104(b)(4) to periodically obtain, from the most reliable source, accurate and timely theft data, and publish the data for review and comment. To fulfill the § 33104(b)(4) mandate, this document reports the preliminary theft data for CY 2003 the most recent calendar year for which data are available.

In calculating the 2003 theft rates, NHTSA followed the same procedures it used in calculating the MY 2002 theft rates. (For 2002 theft data calculations, see 69 FR 53354, September 1, 2004). As in all previous reports, NHTSA's data were based on information provided to the agency by the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The NCIC is a governmental system that receives vehicle theft information from nearly 23,000 criminal justice agencies and other law enforcement authorities throughout the United States. The NCIC data also include reported thefts of self-insured and uninsured vehicles, not all of which are reported to other data sources. The 2003 theft rate for each vehicle line was calculated by dividing the number of reported thefts of MY 2003 vehicles of that line stolen during calendar year 2003, by the total number of vehicles in that line manufactured for MY 2003, as reported by manufacturers to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The preliminary 2003 theft data show a decrease in the vehicle theft rate when compared to the theft rate experienced in CY/MY 2002. The preliminary theft rate for MY 2003 passenger vehicles stolen in calendar year 2003 decreased to 1.84 thefts per thousand vehicles produced, a decrease of 26.1 percent from the rate of 2.49 thefts per thousand vehicles experienced by MY 2002 vehicles in CY 2002. For MY 2003 vehicles, out of a total of 217 vehicle lines, 21 lines had a theft rate higher than 3.5826 per thousand vehicles, the established median theft rate for MYs 1990/1991 (See 59 FR 12400, March 16, 1994). Of the 21 vehicle lines with a theft rate higher than 3.5826, 18 are passenger car lines, 2 are multipurpose passenger vehicle lines, and one is a light-duty truck line.

In Table I, NHTSA has tentatively ranked each of the MY 2003 vehicle lines in descending order of theft rate. Public comment is sought on the accuracy of the data, including the data for the production volumes of individual vehicle lines.

Comments must not exceed 15 pages in length (49 CFR 553.21). Attachments may be appended to these submissions without regard to the 15 page limit. This limitation is intended to encourage commenters to detail their primary arguments in a concise fashion.

If a commenter wishes to submit certain information under a claim of confidentiality, three copies of the complete submission, including purportedly confidential business information, should be submitted to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address given above, and two copies from which the purportedly confidential information has been deleted should be submitted to Dockets. A request for confidentiality should be accompanied by a cover letter setting forth the information specified in the agency's confidential business information regulation. 49 CFR part 512.

All comments received before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated above for this document will be considered, and will be available for examination in the docket at the above address both before and after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed after the closing date will also be considered. Comments on this document will be available for inspection in the docket. NHTSA will continue to file relevant information as it becomes available for inspection in the docket after the closing date, and it is recommended that interested persons continue to examine the docket for new material.

Those persons desiring to be notified upon receipt of their comments in the rules docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the comments, the docket supervisor will return the postcard by mail.

Privacy Act

Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

Authority: 49 U.S.C. 33101, 33102 and 33104; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

Preliminary Report of Theft Rates for Model Year 2003 Passenger Motor Vehicles Stolen in Calendar Year 2003

Manufacturer	Make/model (line)	Thefts 2003	Production (Mfr's) 2003	2003 theft rate (per 1,000 vehicles produced)
1 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	DODGE STRATUS	682	62,496	10.9127
2 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	DODGE INTREPID	392	40,366	9.7111
3 MITSUBISHI	MONTERO	94	13,604	6.9097
4 MITSUBISHI	DIAMANTE	57	9,981	5.7109
5 TOYOTA	TUNDRA PICKUP	162	28,981	5.5899
6 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	SEBRING	180	35,599	5.0563
7 MITSUBISHI	MONTERO SPORT	174	35,508	4.9003
8 MITSUBISHI	GALANT	468	97,418	4.8040
9 JAGUAR	XJR	4	845	4.7337
10 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	DODGE NEON	590	127,902	4.6129
11 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	CHRYSLER SEBRING CONVERTIBLE	61	13,337	4.5737
12 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	CHRYSLER CONCORDE	61	13,690	4.4558
13 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	CHRYSLER 300M	61	13,719	4.4464
14 SUZUKI	AERIO	150	33,931	4.4207
15 FORD MOTOR CO	FORD MUSTANG	598	143,823	4.1579
16 NISSAN	SENTRA	293	71,734	4.0845
17 GENERAL MOTORS	OLDSMOBILE ALERO	333	86,229	3.8618
18  MITSUBISHI	LANCER	283	75,585	3.7441
19 JAGUAR	XK8	8	2,151	3.7192
20 VOLVO	S40	111	3,014	3.6496
21 MITSUBISHI	ECLIPSE	333	92,062	3.6171
22 GENERAL MOTORS	PONTIAC GRAND PRIX	249	70,395	3.5372
23 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	CHRYSLER VOYAGER VAN	72	20,642	3.4880
24 NISSAN	MAXIMA	211	62,537	3.3740
25 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO	228	67,610	3.3723
26 BMW	M3	30	8,964	3.3467
27 GENERAL MOTORS	PONTIAC GRAND AM	450	145,150	3.1002
28 FORD MOTOR CO.	LINCOLN LS	72	23,472	3.0675
29 HONDA	S2000	24	7,8623	3.0527
30 SUZUKI	VITARA/GRAND	108	35,437	3.0477
31 KIA MOTORS	OPTIMA	70	23,340	2.9991
32 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	DODGE CARAVAN/GRAND CARAVAN	725	248,733	2.9148
33 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET CAVALIER	633	218,340	2.8991
34 SUBARU	IMPREZA	67	23,333	2.8715
35 TOYOTA	ECHO	101	35,276	2.8631
36 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET MALIBU	507	179,565	2.8235
37 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET BLAZER S10/T10	152	54,165	2.8062
38 MERCEDES-BENZ	215 (CL-CLASS)	9	3,214	2.8002
39 BMW	M5	5	1,902	2.6288
40 NISSAN	ALTIMA	591	225,388	2.6221
41 JAGUAR	XJ8	10	3,816	2.6205
42 VOLVO	C70	4	1,540	2.5974
43 GENERAL MOTORS	BUICK REGAL	89	35,374	2.5160
44 KIA MOTORS	SPECTRA	176	71,249	2.4702
45 GENERAL MOTORS	BUICK CENTURY	363	148,506	2.4443
46 JAGUAR	S-TYPE	55	22,608	2.4328
47 TOYOTA	LEXUS SC	26	10,800	2.4074
48 FORD MOTOR CO.	LINCOLN TOWN CAR	180	75,624	2.3802
49 TOYOTA	COROLLA	786	330,244	2.3801
50 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD FOCUS	610	257,453	2.3694
51 HYUNDAI	ACCENT	120	51,425	2.3335
52 NISSAN	350Z	92	39,448	2.3322
53 TOYOTA	CELICA	42	18,062	2.3253
54 GENERAL MOTORS	SATURN LS	164	71,082	2.3072
55 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	CHRYSLER PT CRUISER	272	118,798	2.2896
56 HONDA	ACURA 3.2 CL	37	16,327	2.2662
57 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD TAURUS	757	334,329	2.2642
58 GENERAL MOTORS	PONTIAC SUNFIRE	85	37,813	2.2479
59 BMW	7	46	21,387	2.1508
60 HYUNDAI	TIBURON	87	40,830	2.1308
61 TOYOTA	LEXUS IS	30	14,445	2.0768
62 FORD MOTOR CO.	MERCURY MOUNTAINEER	95	45,950	2.0675
63 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET CORVETTE	68	33,118	2.0533
64 GENERAL MOTORS	CADILLAC DEVILLE	157	77,703	2.0205
65 HYUNDAI	XG	18	8,942	2.0130
66 HONDA	ACURA RSX	51	26,035	1.9589
67 KIA MOTORS	RIO	86	44,120	1.9492
68 MAZDA	PROTÉGÉ	164	84,404	1.9430
69 GENERAL MOTORS	CADILLAC SEVILLE	36	18,627	1.9327
70 GENERAL MOTORS	PONTIAC BONNEVILLE	67	34,675	1.9322
71 MITSUBISHI	OUTLANDER	93	48,273	1.9265
72 FORD MOTOR CO.	MERCURY SABLE	123	64,477	1.9077
73 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	JEEP LIBERTY	331	177,461	1.8652
74 NISSAN	INFINITI QX4	14	7,766	1.8027
75 MERCEDES-BENZ	220 (S-CLASS)	37	20,679	1.7893
76 TOYOTA	MATRIX	153	87,440	1.7498
77 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY	216	123,575	1.7479
78 GENERAL MOTORS	GMC SONOMA PICKUP	71	41,164	1.7248
79 HYUNDAI	SONATA	129	77,468	1.6652
80 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE	190	114,736	1.6560
81 MERCEDES-BENZ	129 (SL-CLASS)	34	20,685	1.6437
82 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET IMPALA	404	248,078	1.6285
83 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD EXPLORER	537	332,158	1.6167
84 HYUNDAI	ELANTRA	210	130,031	1.6150
85 VOLVO	S60	31	19,532	1.5871
86 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD ESCAPE	240	151,770	1.5813
87 AUDI	A8	1	643	1.5552
88 NISSAN	FRONTIER PICKUP	105	68,372	1.5357
89 VOLVO	S80	12	7,927	1.5138
90 TOYOTA	CAMRY/SOLARA	617	408,093	1.5119
91 GENERAL MOTORS	PONTIAC AZTEK	44	29,564	1.4883
92 KIA MOTORS	SORENTO	63	42,837	1.4707
93 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD RANGER PICKUP	331	226,132	1.4637
94 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	JEEP WRANGLER	94	64,343	1.4609
95 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	DODGE DAKOTA PICKUP	31	21,582	1.4364
96 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD CROWN VICTORIA	58	41,637	1.3930
97 NISSAN	INFINITI I35	24	17,334	1.3846
98 HONDA	ACURA 3.5 RL	4	2,903	1.3779
99 TOYOTA	LEXUS GS	20	14,555	1.3741
100 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET S10/T10 PICKUP	218	159,920	1.3632
101 NISSAN	INFINITI G35	111	81,505	1.3619
102 TOYOTA	TACOMA PICKUP	209	157,182	1.3297
103 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD ESCORT	28	21,162	1.3231
104 TOYOTA	4RUNNER	133	101,254	1.3135
105 MAZDA	6	72	54,829	1.3132
106 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET TRACKER	54	41,730	1.2940
107 TOYOTA	RAV4	100	77,319	1.2933
108 GENERAL MOTORS	OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA	11	8,642	1.2729
109 PORSCHE	BOXSTER	10	7,880	1.2690
110 GENERAL MOTORS	GMC SAFARI VAN	11	8,738	1.2589
111 GENERAL MOTORS	PONTIAC VIBE	88	69,941	1.2582
112 HONDA	CIVIC	369	300,485	1.2280
113 VOLKSWAGEN	GOLF/GTI	41	34,049	1.2041
114 FORD MOTOR CO.	MERCURY GRAND MARQUIS	127	105,615	1.2025
115 HONDA	ACCORD	499	427,660	1.1668
116 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET ASTRO VAN	38	32,687	1.1625
117 TOYOTA	PRIUS	16	13,826	1.1572
118 NISSAN	XTERRA	87	75,351	1.1546
119 TOYOTA	MR2 SPYDER	6	5,209	1.1519
120 ISUZU	ASCENDER	4	3,476	1.1507
121 VOLKSWAGEN	JETTA	171	148,729	1.1497
122 NISSAN	PATHFINDER	56	48,772	1.1482
123 JAGUAR	XKR	1	880	1.1364
124 HONDA	ACURA 3.2 TL	105	93,899	1.1182
125 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER	205	194,427	1.0544
126 AUDI	A6/A6 QUATTRO/S6/AVANT	18	17,116	1.0516
127 ISUZU	AXIOM	4	3,848	1.0395
128 MERCEDES-BENZ	203 (C-CLASS)	65	63,327	1.0264
129 GENERAL MOTORS	CADILLAC CTS	69	68,264	1.0108
130 LAND ROVER	FREELANDER	10	9,985	1.0015
131 NISSAN	INFINITI Q45	3	3,034	0.9888
132 MAZDA	B SERIES PICKUP	19	19,342	0.9823
133 AUDI	TT	6	6,138	0.9775
134 TOYOTA	LEXUS ES	60	61,512	0.9754
135 MERCEDES-BENZ	210 (E-CLASS)	61	62,547	0.9753
136 NISSAN	INFINITI M45	6	6,402	0.9372
137 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD EXPLORER SPORT TRAC	58	62,059	0.9346
138 TOYOTA	LEXUS LS	20	21,592	0.9263
139 TOYOTA	LEXUS GX	21	22,932	0.9158
140 NISSAN	MURANO	50	54,632	0.9152
141 BMW	5	36	39,342	0.9151
142 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD WINDSTAR VAN	134	148,016	0.9053
143 PORSCHE	911	9	10,027	0.8976
144 BMW	3	90	100,589	0.8947
145 JAGUAR	X-TYPE	27	30,483	0.8857
146 VOLVO	XC70	8	9,175	0.8719
147 TOYOTA	AVALON	59	68,872	0.8567
148 GENERAL MOTORS	GMC ENVOY	71	83,069	0.8547
149 KIA MOTORS	SEDONA VAN	44	51,515	0.8541
150 VOLKSWAGEN	PASSAT	89	105,230	0.8458
151 GENERAL MOTORS	OLDSMOBILE AURORA	3	3,550	0.8451
152 AUDI	A4/A4 QUATTRO	40	47,520	0.8418
153 GENERAL MOTORS	CHEVROLET VENTURE VAN	80	96,022	0.8331
154 ISUZU	RODEO	11	13,625	0.8073
155 MAZDA	MX-5 MIATA	10	12,458	0.8027
156 HYUNDAI	SANTA FE	79	98,515	0.8019
157 MERCEDES-BENZ	208 (CLK-CLASS)	25	31,560	0.7921
158 JAGUAR	VANDEN PLAS/SUPER V8	1	1,26 5	0.7905
159 GENERAL MOTORS	BUICK LESABRE	97	124,342	0.7801
160 TOYOTA	SIENNA VAN	33	42,688	0.7731
161 GENERAL MOTORS	SATURN ION	73	96,382	0.7574
162 FORD MOTOR CO.	FORD THUNDERBIRD	10	13,948	0.7169
163 MAZDA	TRIBUTE	33	47,099	0.7007
164 GENERAL MOTORS	PONTIAC MONTANA VAN	32	45,936	0.6966
165 HONDA	ELEMENT	51	75,457	0.6759
166 HONDA	ACURA MDX	36	55,826	0.6449
167 TOYOTA	LEXUS RX	22	34,745	0.6332
168 GENERAL MOTORS	BUICK RENDEZVOUS	42	67,239	0.6246
169 TOYOTA	HIGHLANDER	77	128,157	0.6008
170 GENERAL MOTORS	OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE VAN	11	18,330	0.6001
171 VOLKSWAGEN	NEW BEETLE	35	58,891	0.5943
172 HONDA	PILOT	71	123,095	0.5768
173 GENERAL MOTORS	SATURN VUE	58	109,455	0.5299
174 BMW	Z4	12	24,198	0.4959
175 VOLVO	XC90	6	12,404	0.4837
176 VOLVO	V70	3	6,242	0.4806
177 GENERAL MOTORS	BUICK PARK AVENUE	14	29,309	0.4777
178 SUBARU	BAJA	7	14,966	0.4677
179 SAAB	9-5	7	15,159	0.4618
180 NISSAN	INFINITI FX35	8	17,691	0.4522
181 BMW	MINI COOPER	15	33,255	0.4511
182 HONDA	CR-V	61	140,449	0.4343
183 SAAB	9-3	13	33,653	0.3863
184 SUBARU	LEGACY/OUTBACK	30	84,858	0.3535
185 VOLVO	V40	3	9,155	0.3277
186 SUBARU	FORESTER	21	65,691	0.3197
187 MERCEDES-BENZ	170 (SLK-CLASS)	2	6,526	0.3065
188 MAZDA	MPV VAN	10	33,563	0.2979
189 HONDA	ODYSSEY VAN	48	165,197	0.2906
190 GENERAL MOTORS	SATURN LW	2	7,251	0.2758
191 NISSAN	INFINITI FX45	2	7,743	0.2583
192 ASTON MARTIN	VANQUISH	0	286	0.0000
193 ASTON MARTIN	VANTAGE	0	399	0.0000
194 AUDI	ALLROAD QUATTRO	0	5,256	0.0000
195 AUDI	RS6	0	1,436	0.0000
196 AUDI	S8	0	301	0.0000
197 BMW	Z8	0	539	0.0000
198 DAIMLERCHRYSLER	DODGE VIPER	0	1,707	0.0000
199 FERRARI	360	0	885	0.0000
200 FERRARI	456	0	32	0.0000
201 FERRARI	575M	0	167	0.0000
202 FERRARI	ENZO	0	102	0.0000
203 GENERAL MOTORS	CADILLAC FUNERAL COACH/HEARSE	0	988	0.0000
204 GENERAL MOTORS	CADILLAC LIMOUSINE	0	692	0.0000
205 HONDA	ACURA NSX	0	176	0.0000
206 HONDA	INSIGHT	0	1,011	0.0000
207 JAGUAR	XJS	0	594	0.0000
208 LAMBORGHINI	MURCIELAGO	0	75	0.0000
209 LOTUS	ESPRIT	0	96	0.0000
210 MASERATI	COUPE/SPYDER	0	408	0.0000
211 MITSUBISHI	NATIVA 1	0	470	0.0000
212 QUANTUM TECH	CHEVROLET CAVALIER	0	313	0.0000
213 ROLLS ROYCE	BENTLEY	0	2	0.0000
214 ROLLS ROYCE	BENTLEY ARNAGE	0	107	0.0000
215 ROLLS ROYCE	BENTLEY AZURE	0	35	0.0000
216 ROLLS ROYCE	CONTINENTAL R	0	1	0.0000
217 VOLKSWAGEN	EUROVAN/CAMPER	0	4,662	0.0000
1 This vehicle was manufactured for sale only in Puerto Rico and represents the U.S. version of Mitsubishi's Montero Sport line.

Issued on: February 18, 2005.

Stephen R. Kratzke,

Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.