The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) recently released its annual list of the most frequently stolen vehicles. There are some interesting points in their media release that I thought you might be interested in - as a business owner, and as an individual policy holder.

The first point is, auto theft overall is down, which is obviously good. On the other hand, the impact of auto theft is more far reaching than ever before, and it has become much harder to recover stolen vehicles. Why is that?

That brings me to my second point - while Honda Civics remain at the top of the list, higher-end models, such as the Cadillac Escalade, are being stolen at a greater rate. There is a demand for vehicles like these in Ghana, Nigeria, Dubai, Lebanon, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Organized criminals are shipping the vehicles overseas, and as a result, the recovery rate for stolen vehicles in Canada continues to decline, even though there are fewer thefts in total, says the IBC.

The top 10 stolen vehicles are:

• 2000 Honda Civic SiR 2-door
• 2003 Cadillac Escalade ESV 4-door AWD
• 1999 Honda Civic SiR 2-door
• 2006 Chevrolet/GMC Trailblazer SS 4-door 4WD
• 2002 Cadillac Escalade EXT 4-door AWD
• 2005 Cadillac Escalade ESV 4-door AWD
• 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder 2-door
• 2000 Audi S4 Quattro 4-door
• 2006 Hummer H2 4-door AWD
• 2005 Cadillac Escalade 4-door 4WD

"We're seeing two very different forms of auto theft," said Rick Dubin, Vice-President, Investigations, IBC. "One type of thief is just looking for a car that's easy to steal, with no approved anti-theft electronic immobilizer, which can be used for transportation, stripped for parts or used to commit other crimes. The other type of thief goes after newer, high-end vehicles. Although these are harder to steal, sophisticated organized crime rings can make a strong profit by shipping them overseas, chopping them for parts, or changing their vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and selling them to unsuspecting consumers."

Auto theft by the numbers (as provided by IBC):

• In 2008, auto theft cost Canadian insurers $465 million, which averages out to about $30 per auto insurance policy.
• According to Statistics Canada, 125,271 vehicles were stolen in Canada in 2008, a drop of 15% from 2007.
• In 2009, IBC investigators working in partnership with law enforcement stopped 300 stolen vehicles from leaving Canadian ports and repatriated 72 vehicles from abroad, with a total value of approximately $11 million.

The above data is based on actual insurance claims, and is included in IBC's "How Cars Measure Up" - which is designed to help consumers understand how theft, collision and other claims costs affect insurance premiums.