Australia and New Zealand have two of the highest per capita car ownership rates in the world, however, they also both suffer high rates of vehicle theft. They both take right hand drive vehicles and share a lot of models in common, many of which come from three main brands - Ford, Holden and Toyota. They also share a common set of vehicle security performance criteria developed by the Joint Australia and New Zealand Standards Committee.

Together, they represent a pair of countries where the security features fitted to vehicles are important. However, the two countries have completely different approaches and vastly different theft figures.

Historically, New Zealand has done little in the way of promoting vehicle security and despite government discussions over the past 2 years they have yet to introduce mandatory immobilisation. The New Zealand market is dominated by a high rate of imported vehicles (60% of vehicles bought for the first time in New Zealand are used imports). As a result, New Zealand has not seen any reduction in theft figures over the past 10 years and continues to suffer a high theft risk.

In contrast, in Australia, the actions of the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC) since 1999 have resulted in declining theft figures, and they have ambitious targets to bring Australian theft down to the level of Japan, one of the world’s lowest risk markets. They introduced mandatory immobilisation in 2001 and publish an annual plan which will concentrate on targeting profit motivated theft over the next few years.

The legal discussions in New Zealand and the ongoing actions of the NMVTRC mean that there are likely to be future changes to vehicle security requirements in these countries.

For more information on Australia and New Zealand - Car theft and insurance please contact Juanita Appleby on jappleby@sbd.co.uk