UPDATED
To help address the spike in car thefts, the mayor of Brampton, ON is urging the federal Transport Minister to consider ordering a recall of the top ten most stolen vehicles in Canada.
“Accepting car theft in Canada is not a solution,” said Mayor Patrick Brown in a news conference last week. “Criminal organizations have used new technology to make it easier than ever to steal a car. This is a crisis across the country.”
The mayor’s office recently released some data on the region’s automobile theft numbers, which found that car theft rose by 97% in Peel since 2019. Meanwhile, it rose by 80% in Toronto, over 134% in York, and 120% in Montreal. Brown also cited data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada, which found that auto theft is costing Canada $1 billion annually.
“Criminal organizations are profiting, the mayor stated. “We can’t accept auto theft as a way of life in Canada’s big cities.”
As reported by Brampton Guardian, the ten vehicles Brown wants recalled include the Lexus RX series, the Honda CR-V, the Ford F-150, the Toyota Highlander, the Honda Civic, the Land Rover Range Rover Sport, the Honda Accord, the Chevrolet GMC Silverado and Zero Series, the RAM 1500 series and the Toyota Tacoma. It was noted that all these vehicles are fitted with keyless entry and ignition technology, and that there are about five million vehicles in Canada that sport the feature.
Brown’s push for automobile recalls comes at a time when certain vehicles produced by Hyundai and Kia are being easily stolen thanks to an infamous group of carjackers demonstrating on YouTube how easy it is to take the cars without the use of keys. The automakers have since rolled out an update which will look to make the vehicles much harder to steal.
Will a mass recall of keyless ignition cars truly solve the auto theft issue? Let us know in the comments section below.
